A Virginia congressman has been accused of turning his staff members into personal “gofers” — forcing some to fetch groceries and clothes, while others drove his daughters around and picked up dog poop.
Multiple former aides about Rep. Tom Garrett’s alleged demands, which were also handed out by his wife.
“I didn’t know who I was working for: Was I working for him? Was I working for her?” said one of the staffers.
Garrett, a freshman Republican, allegedly made his workers do a variety of deeds — most revolving around his wife, Flanna, and their personal matters.
Garrett even put his team on doggy duty — going so far as to make them clean up when his pup was in the office, the staffers added.
“We became their gofers,” explained one aide.
Other errands included grocery shopping, chauffeuring Garrett’s daughters from his previous marriage, and picking up things he forgot at his apartment, according to the staff members.
“I can take hard work. What I can’t put up with is these just mundane tasks that [were] being asked to be completed by him and his wife that had nothing to do with the job,” said one aide, calling the demands “effed up.”
“I came aboard because I really, really believed in the message being presented and believed in Garrett as a person and as congressman,” said another aide.
The former aides said they were afraid to say no for fear of getting fired. Others, however, couldn’t take the alleged abuse.
According to Politico, Garrett has had one of the highest levels of turnover in the House since taking office in January 2017.
Records compiled by legislative data company Legistorm show that his office is fourth out of more than 400 legislative shops.
While Garrett’s conduct could create problems for him with the House Ethics Committee, his spokesman Matt Missen says there is “no ethics investigation” at the moment.
“To ensure that all staff follow the rules, Congressman Garrett has had lawyers from the House Ethics Committee meet with him and his staff (to include district staff via telephone) to brief everyone on the ethics rules pertaining to congressmen and staff, and to answer any questions,” Missen told Politico.
He declined to comment, though, on the staffers’ allegations.