Former Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer had an inappropriate relationship with a member of her security detail, pressured subordinates to drink, and relied on her staff to do everything from organizing laundry to translating her instructions to a moving crew.
Those are the findings of a bombshell investigation into Chavez-DeRemer, a Trump Cabinet member whose nomination was greeted with initial enthusiasm from some Senate Democrats but whose tenure ultimately ended in a cloud of scandal.
The Labor Department’s inspector general, Anthony D’Esposito, wrote in a 44-page report that 38 witnesses described to investigators an office that was “toxic, intimidating and humiliating.”
Chavez-DeRemer’s attorney did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment. In a statement to NBC News, he said that she had not broken the law.
“Secretary Chavez-DeRemer did not violate any law,” Nick Oberheiden, the former secretary’s attorney, said in a statement to the outlet. “That’s important to point out and contrast to the premature and incorrect speculation of some. Beyond this, Ms. Chavez-DeRemer has successfully pursued new projects as a private citizen.”
Here are some of the report’s biggest findings.
A “toxic culture”
Two of Chavez-DeRemer’s top aides, chief of staff Jihun Han and Office of the Secretary deputy chief of staff Rebecca Wright, violated department policy by routinely engaging in “threatening, demeaning, and abusive verbal and written communication,” according to the report.
The watchdog concluded that the secretary “was seemingly aware of this behavior and failed to take action to stop this behavior.”
In some instances, the report says Chavez-DeRemer herself engaged in the behavior.
“Witnesses stated that Chavez-DeRemer, Han, and Wright openly discussed employee performance matters in the presence of other staff, including details of performance-related meetings and whether those employees had cried during the meetings,” the report reads.
In violation of department policy, the report said that the trio regularly consumed alcohol during work hours and pressured other workers to join them.
“Witnesses reported that when other employees attending these meetings declined alcohol, Chavez-DeRemer, Han, and Wright pressured them to participate or ridiculed them for abstaining,” the report says.
Han and Wright were later terminated.
Chavez-DeRemer had an “inappropriate relationship”
Before she resigned in April, Chavez-DeRemer faced multiple reports that said she had a relationship with a member of her security detail
D’Esposito wrote that the direct evidence his team reviewed did not sufficiently establish that the pair “engaged in a romantic or sexual relationship.”
That being said, the inspector general goes into detail about the evidence he uncovered, down to hotel door-lock records and video of the agent, who the report does not name, entering Chavez-DeRemer’s building.
D’Esposito wrote that in two instances during trips to Las Vegas, the door lock records “reflected activity that appeared to indicate the two subjects spending at least portions overnight in the other’s room.”
The agent in question ultimately resigned.
Chavez-DeRemer pressured a security agent to give money to a nude dancer
During private travel back home in Oregon, the report said Chavez-DeRemer asked her security detail to take an unscheduled trip to what appears to be a strip club. The report describes it as “an establishment that was determined upon entry to feature partially nude dancers.”
The report states that Chavez-DeRemer entered the establishment with the agent she was having an inappropriate relationship with and another member of the security detail.
According to the report, Chavez-DeRemer asked the driver to give money to one of the performers. Unsure of what to do, the driver asked the agent who the secretary was having an inappropriate relationship with for guidance.
“Chavez-DeRemer then took additional money from her purse and asked the agent to drop the bills one by one onto the partially nude woman,” the report says.
Chavez-DeRemer relied on her staff for personal errands
Despite department policy to the contrary, the report includes multiple instances in which the secretary asked staffers to help her with personal errands during work hours.
“These tasks were outside the scope of these employee’s official duties and included having employees organize Chavez-DeRemer’s personal belongings, retrieve her packages, make personal purchases for her, oversee her movers, and communicate with household service providers during official duty time,” the report states.
On one occasion, Chavez-DeRemer directed a staffer to “hang her laundry and dry cleaning and organize her clothing, shoes, and purses.” Investigators obtained evidence of what happened because the staffer provided a video to the secretary showing her the job was done.
During the 2025 government shutdown, the report says Chavez-DeRemer asked an employee to retrieve packages from the mailroom of her residence.
Chavez-DeRemer also asked employees to buy “picture frames, holiday ornaments, gifts, and alcohol” on her behalf.
A Hispanic federal employee, the report states, was asked to “translate during interactions with Spanish-speaking workers at her personal residence.”
You can read the report in full here.
Read the full article here
