Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) has fired chief of staff Clint Reed after an investigation into improper conduct.
Rubio said in a statement Saturday night that he had done so after allegations of impropriety "between a supervisor and his subordinates." He did not mention Reed by name, but it was widely reported and Reed's Linked In profile identifies him as Rubio's chief of staff.
Rubio said he had flown to Washington to fire him in person.
"Yesterday afternoon, I was made aware, for the first time, of allegations of improper conduct by my Chief of Staff while under the employment of my office. These allegations were reported directly to me instead of our General Counsel or the Congressional Office of Compliance," Rubio wrote. "Immediately upon receiving this complaint, I along with our General Counsel, began an investigation of this matter.
“By early this afternoon, I had sufficient evidence to conclude that while employed by this office, my Chief of Staff had violated office policies regarding proper relations between a supervisor and their subordinates. I further concluded that this led to actions which in my judgement amounted to threats to withhold employment benefits."
Rubio said that according to the wishes of the victims, he would not disclose any details of the conduct, but would be notifying the appropriate Hill authorities Monday (Jan. 29).
Rubio's move came about the same time reports surfaced that Republican National Committee Chairman and Las Vegas casino exec Steve Wynn had resigned as RNC finance chairman in the wake of allegations of sexual misconduct.
