Elizabeth Warren campaign fires senior staffer after reports of ‘inappropriate behavior’
"The campaign determined that his reported conduct was inconsistent with its values and that he could not be a part of the campaign moving forward."
Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s presidential campaign has fired one of its senior staffers following allegations of “inappropriate behavior,” as Politico first reported Friday afternoon.
Kristen Orthman, the communications director for Warren’s campaign, told the outlet in a statement that it had let go Rich McDaniel, who was the Massachusetts senator’s national organizing director, after receiving multiple complaints over the past two weeks and hiring an outside law firm to conduct an investigation.
“Based on the results of the investigation, the campaign determined that his reported conduct was inconsistent with its values and that he could not be a part of the campaign moving forward,” Orthman said.
Scoop: the Warren campaign has fired its national organizing director Rich McDaniel. “Over the past two weeks, senior campaign leadership received multiple complaints regarding inappropriate behavior,” Kristen Orthman says. Full statements screenshotted https://t.co/5rG0dDtRQB pic.twitter.com/xty5FIjCvT
— Alex Thompson (@AlxThomp) October 4, 2019
According to Politico, the reports did not amount to sexual assault. Beyond that, the nature of McDaniel’s “inappropriate behavior” has not been publicly disclosed.
A former campaign staffer for Alabama Sen. Doug Jones and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign in 2016, McDaniels was hired by the Warren campaign in January, shortly after Warren declared interested in the Democratic nomination. According to The New York Times, the Atlanta native had expertise in organizing black voters; however, there had been discontent within the Warren campaign with McDaniels’s job performance even before complaints about his behavior surfaced.
In a statement to Politico, McDaniels said he would “never intentionally engage in any behavior inconsistent with the campaign or my own values,” it was “important to listen even when you disagree” and wished his former colleagues well.
“I have tremendous respect for my colleagues despite any disagreements we may have had and believe departing at this time is in the best interest of both parties,” he said.
