Harry Reid Rebuked Amy Klobuchar For Mistreatment Of Staff

[jalan48]

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s mistreatment of her office staff began more than a decade ago and eventually caused such concerns that in 2015, then-Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) spoke to her privately and told her to change her behavior, multiple sources have confirmed to HuffPost.

Former members of her staff told HuffPost that Klobuchar ground down morale with constant and cruel late-night emails and claimed staff was required to perform personal duties for her — such as washing dishes in her home — in violation of the Senate’s rules and federal law against personal use of the office.

The section that troubled him most was titled “Personal Preferences & Needs at Home.” It described what the body person ought to do “During free time or when waiting in her room (dressing area/bedroom)”:

Hang up clothes she leaves laying on the floor & her chair
Pick up dirty clothes & place in a basket (in the hallway between room & bathroom)
Organize clothing in the closet so she can find items easily (separate into shirts, suits, etc)
Throw away any garbage in the dressing area
Make sure nylons/socks/etc are in drawers are arranged for easy retrieval






https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/amy-klobuchar-mistreat-staff-harry-reid_us_5c5db1ece4b03afe8d674530

[MontanaMama]

1. Gosh if this is true

it is really disappointing.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

33. Yes, so bummed... though Elizabeth still has my vote of all the declared candidates.

[cilla4progress]

2. Yeah...

She WAS my no. 1 pick!!!

[Awsi Dooger]

38. She is still my second choice behind Beto

It reminds me of my years in Las Vegas, when the absolute worst handicappers would watch every game and change their opinion immediately. They would literally have a different opinion of a team or player based on one drive or one play.

The successful ones applied a foundational scope and ignored all the noise. In fact, Nate Silver wrote a great book titled, "The Signal and the Noise."

There is no question where this properly falls, but I don't doubt that many Democrats will wrongly assign it as a signal. I have argued for 20+ years that Democrats are inept handicappers. That circular firing squad theme is the same idea.

We don't want to be stuck with an unlikable nominee making one front and center mistake after another in fall 2020. Very high potential for that, given other names.

[Quixote1818]

3. I never would have expected this. She comes across as such a nice person

She was in my top two and now I won't be considering her.

[DeminPennswoods]

7. Have heard more than a few

stories about Navy flag officers treating their assigned military aides (usually jr officers) in a similar way - like a personal servant. I guess sometimes being in a powerful position goes right to a person's head and makes them behave in a way they normally wouldn't.

[csziggy]

13. The Stanford prison experiment proves that power corrupts

Even people who start at the same level and same circumstance can get carried away when put in positions with power over others. Unless the more powerful is completely self aware and guards against it happening it can happen.

The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was a 1971 social psychology experiment that attempted to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power, focusing on the struggle between prisoners and prison officers. It was conducted at Stanford University between August 14–20, 1971, by a research group led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo using college students.[1] In the study, volunteers were randomly assigned to be either "guards" or "prisoners" in a mock prison, with Zimbardo himself serving as the superintendent. Several "prisoners" left mid-experiment, and the whole experiment was abandoned after six days. Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers' request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it. The experiment has been described in many introductory social psychology textbooks,[2] although some are beginning to exclude it because its methodology is questioned.[3]

The U.S. Office of Naval Research[4] funded the experiment as an investigation into the causes of difficulties between guards and prisoners in the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps. Certain portions of it were filmed, and excerpts of footage are publicly available.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_prison_experiment

[ecstatic]

26. Or maybe it's due to the cycle of learned

abusive behavior. In the Kavanaugh hearings, she revealed her father is an alcoholic. Sometimes the disease of alcoholism causes people to act in cruel, abusive ways at times. I don't know if she drinks or not, but she might have picked up some of the behaviors she was exposed to as a child.

[LisaM]

32. Yes.

Usually there is a source for this kind of behavior, and this is a plausible explanation. And, it shows that this behavior can be un-learned with some treatment.

[lancelyons]

4. This is how dems defeat dems

We don't need the gop to undo us. We are very good at this ourselves. Pathetic

[jalan48]

10. Nominating candidates while ignoring their shortcomings is foolhardy.

A former aide to ex-Sen. Al Franken recalled an encounter at a Veterans Day event to which Klobuchar was running late. (Franken resigned from the Senate in December 2017 after multiple women accused him of groping them or forcibly kissing them, often at political events.)

A young Klobuchar staffer was sent to explain the senator’s lateness to the Franken staffer.

“I’m supposed to tell you,” she said, with a look of terror on her face, “Senator Klobuchar is late today because I am bad at my job.”

[lancelyons]

19. There are NO HUMANS without shortcomings. Expecting perfection is futile.

[jalan48]

22. It's not about perfection. It's about winning elections.

[lancelyons]

27. It should be about winning elections if we want to achieve our agenda

But to often we can have the right expose a little dirt on our candidate and we fall for it and eat them alive.

Biden has been mean to somebody for sure before. All humans have.

Biden has probably lied before...

As long as we continue to insist on perfection... the right will expose some lack of perfection and we will come unglued and start eating our candidates alive.

We did that with Hillary. We did that with Bernie..

this is what the GOP says is the Dems will kill themselves. It happens all the time. We strive for idealogical perfection and when that doesnt exist, we discard them.

Its a shame. Nobody is perfect.

[Hotler]

25. Being nice and respectful to other people does not require perfection. nt

[lancelyons]

29. This thread is an example of if your not nice and respectful all the time

Then you will be cast aside.

It makes my point. The entire thread. searching for perfection.

[Hotler]

30. geez, sorry I even added my thoughts. Hey, you have a nice day. nt

[Iggo]

5. And then what happened?

He talked to her about it four years ago, and then what happened?

[Renew Deal]

6. Have you ever seen the end of Mortal Kombat?

Just kidding.

[marble falls]

8. Truly shocked.

[Iggo]

21. I know.

She got called into the office and was told to be nice for a change.

Deal breaker!!!

[marble falls]

39. For me, too.

[Iggo]

45. Hmm.

Didn't think I'd need this:

[marble falls]

51. Add one after mine, too. I do have some questions regarding her treatment of her staffers ...

her office is said to have the most complaints by staffers in the Senate. I'd sure like to hear her take.

[Skidmore]

9. The only source for any of this is Huffington Post. nt

[brooklynite]

23. Also BuzzFeed

[TeamPooka]

24. Reporting by Molly Redden and Amanda Terkel. Two real pros. Good luck calling them bloggers

hahahahahaha

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

34. Does make one wonder.

[marble falls]

40. If it were a lie one would have thought Harry Reid would have put the kibosh on it by now.

[snowybirdie]

11. Now I wonder

where this came from? There's this aggressive, successful Senator who is tough on staff, and now we're hearing that a dying former Leader spoke with her about her office practicws. Oh my! She's such a meanie! Gotta keep them woman folks down and don't let them get power, don't we!

[CentralMass]

31. Does the dying part have. any relevance ?

I think the question I would ask myself is would I want my son or daughter to work for a person who treats people in that manner.

[Baltimike]

12. This is a deal breaker for me if true.

Maybe there's an explanation?

[Paladin]

37. You and me both.

I've seen first-hand the sort of damage that out-of-control, unchecked executives can do. The evidence against Klobuchar is persuasive, and there are plenty of other Democratic candidates to consider.

[ripcord]

41. It was so bad her staffers union local asked that the union not support her

[OilemFirchen]

14. Multiple Unnamed Sources have been busy the past few days.

I hope they're not neglecting their Multiple Unnamed Children and Pets.

[UniteFightBack]

15. Well this is surprising coming from the girl next door. Just goes to show that we really don't know

any of these people. Anyway not sure why folks would call this a deal breaker? THE ONLY THING folks should be concerned about is who can beat rump. That is all.

[OnDoutside]

16. Meanwhile Trump rapes women, cheats on his wives, and becomes President.

[dhill926]

17. I know....mind boggling....

[DURHAM D]

18. The Huffers must really be afraid of Amy's possibilities.

jftr - If you are someone's body person wouldn't you naturally just pick up stuff and put it away while you are standing around bored.

[ripcord]

42. So you have decided to ignore the facts?

https://www.scribd.com/document/399214761/AFSCME-Letter-on-Amy-Klobuchar-2006#from_embed?campaign=SkimbitLtd&ad_group=38395X1559799X960093ee4097edcaa3b99f246f252c20&keyword=660149026&source=hp_affiliate&medium=affiliate

[marble falls]

44. About the reporters and a report from AFSCME ...

Molly Redden
Senior Politics Reporter, HuffPost

Molly Redden is a senior politics reporter for HuffPost. Before joining HuffPost, she covered gender issues as a senior reporter for the Guardian US and was a staff writer for Mother Jones and the New Republic. She is based in New York. She can be reached at [e-mail].

Amanda Terkel
Washington Bureau Chief, HuffPost

Amanda Terkel is the Washington Bureau Chief at HuffPost. Previously, Amanda served as Deputy Research Director at the Center for American Progress and the Managing Editor of ThinkProgress.org. She is a graduate of Colgate University and can be reached at [e-mail], or on Twitter @aterkel. Sign up for her newsletter, Piping Hot Truth: https://aterkel.substack.com.

[customerserviceguy]

50. Hmm, that's pretty damning

And with it being from a labor union from over a dozen years ago, it's difficult to label it as ratfucking.

[customerserviceguy]

20. My question is

Did the talk from Sen. Reid produce any changes? Did staff turnover stay at the same rate after his sage advice, or not?

And, what, pray tell, is a "body person" in the context of serving a US Senator?? It's one thing for a rock star to have an entourage of people doing menial things, because their pay comes out of the entertainer's earnings, but quite another when the taxpayers are picking up the tab.

[Cha]

46. That's exactly what I was going to

ask and then I saw your post.

Has Amy Klochubar learned from being call out by Harry Reid?

[customerserviceguy]

48. The same folks

who calculated that she had the most turnover of any Senator since 2001 should be able to give us that answer. And, we need to take into account the fact that some of the turnover might be due to GOP control of the Senate for the past several years, some aides might well have availed themselves of better opportunities than serving a Senator who was not in a position to influence legislation that would have passed.

Her announcement tomorrow need not focus on this issue, but it will surely come up in her round of media interviews after she tosses her hat in the ring. If she faces it squarely and without evasion, it may put the issue to rest. Admitting that she had something to learn from Sen. Reid is a good step in that direction.

[marble falls]

52. I'm surprised no one got a statement from Harry Reid. Your question is the one I'd like to ...

have answered, too.

[question everything]

35. Would it be different were she a man? Asked the host at a local PBS station. Yes,

replied the guest, a woman professor of political science

[jalan48]

36. Her behavior goes back a ways. Klobuchar's 2006 Campaign

From the article.

During that same campaign, the president of the AFSCME local, the union which represented many of Klobuchar’s employees in the attorney’s office, asked the larger, Twin Cities AFSCME affiliate not to endorse Klobuchar’s Senate bid, citing her “shameful treatment of her employees.”

Klobuchar had “created a hostile work environment” and “severely damaged the morale of the office,” wrote James Appleby, the president of the local. The letter claimed grievances to the union increased under Klobuchar’s tenure, and that Klobuchar once told her own employees they weren’t competent enough to work at her former law firm. It also claimed the local had asked the union to withhold its endorsement for her county attorney bid in 2002.

“In short, Amy Klobuchar is exactly the kind of candidate that AFSCME should oppose,” he wrote.

[IluvPitties]

43. That is unfortunate, if true.

[crazycatlady]

47. If this is true

I am concerned about cabinet turnover should she be elected POTUS.

[customerserviceguy]

49. Yes

There's a lot of stuff an aide would put up with that a Cabinet-level secretary would not.