Labor Secretary Resigns Amid Scandals, and F.B.I. Director Sues Over Drinking Claims
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From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Tuesday, April 21st. Here's what we're covering. In a major shakeup for President Trump's cabinet, the Secretary of Labor has resigned as multiple scandals and investigations closed in on her. Lori Chavez de Riemer, a former congresswoman from Oregon, has been under investigation by the Labor Department's inspector general, which was looking into claims of widespread misconduct by her, her family, and her staff. There's also been a parallel inquiry by Congress, and together they've surfaced a range of embarrassing accusations. Chavez-Durimer was accused of having an affair with a member of her security detail. There were allegations that she and her staff used taxpayer dollars for personal trips, spending money on fancy hotels and SUV rentals.
And text messages reviewed by the Times suggested she was drinking during the workday. Beyond that, staff members filed civil rights complaints describing a hostile work environment, and her aides allegedly tried to steer federal grants to favored political operatives. In addition to Chavez de Riemer's own conduct, the investigations were looking into personal text messages that her father and husband were sending to young female staffers at the department. According to people familiar with the inquiry, the labor secretary told some of the women to, quote, pay attention to the men. Earlier this year, Chavez-Durimer's husband was barred from the agency's D.C. headquarters after being accused of making unwanted sexual advances, allegations his lawyer says are false.
In response to questions about her resignation, one of Chavez-Durimer's lawyers said she, quote, did not resign because she violated the law. No such finding exists. And a White House spokesman said she had, quote, done a phenomenal job in her role by protecting American workers. The deputy labor secretary, Keith Sonderling, will now step up in an acting capacity. Multiple employees told The Times he's already effectively been doing the job since the secretary was almost never at the office. Chavez de Riemer is now the fourth senior cabinet official to step down or be fired in President Trump's second term. Republican Senator Tom Tillis told reporters that he thinks Congress needs to do a better job of vetting administration nominees.
He said, quote, where benefit of the doubt was given in the past, you've got to doubt. Meanwhile, a flurry of accusations has engulfed another top Trump administration official. Kash Patel, the director of the FBI, sued The Atlantic yesterday, accusing the magazine of defamation after it published an article saying he drinks excessively and has had unexplained absences from his job. The article cited more than two dozen anonymous sources who said Patel drinks to the point of obvious intoxication, including at members-only clubs in D.C. and Vegas, and said his conduct has alarmed his colleagues. In Patel's lawsuit, which asks for $250 million in damages, he accused The Atlantic of printing obviously fabricated allegations and said the FBI had been given less than two hours to respond to a list of 19 claims.
Later today, Vice President J.D. Vance is expected to fly to Pakistan for potential peace talks with Iran.
What led to the resignation of the Labor Secretary amid scandals?
There's less than 24 hours to go until the current ceasefire expires.
Publicly, Iran is trying to send the signals that their participation is not a given. Privately, we are hearing that Iranian officials are still planning to try to make it to the talks in Pakistan this week.
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