It’s been over a week since the House unanimously reprimanded David Schweikert for 11 separate ethics violations and charged him one of the largest fines in Congressional history. Schweikert was the first member of Congress reprimanded in the House in 8 years.
In their report, the House Ethics Committee laid out many startling revelations. But one particularly notable indictment of Schweikert’s character and effectiveness came from his own staff members, who the investigation revealed Schweikert as unlikable, incompetent, and corrupt.
Check out some of the most damning comments below:
Former Chief of Staff: “I hate David and I hate this job and this is going to be terrible.” (Appendix B1, P. 32)
Former Chief of Staff: “I’m going to go to the FEC and get David thrown in jail for campaign fraud.” (Appendix B2, P. 23)
Former Deputy Chief of Staff: “David is a hard member to work for. He’s highly caffeinated and a little off kilter at times.” (Appendix B1, P. 32)
Former Deputy Chief of Staff: “David would occasionally get bored with staffers, regardless of whether or not they were doing good work, and then [Chief of Staff] Oliver [Schwab] would force the staffers out.” (Appendix B2, p. 22)
Former District Staffer: “There was a problem of over promising on constituent services; like saying we can wave a magic wand and fix everything.” (Appendix B2, p. 96)
“There is perhaps no more damning evidence of Congressman Schweikert’s character than his staff’s honest thoughts of their time in his office,” said DCCC Spokesperson Sarah Guggenheimer. “If Schweikert’s own staff view the Congressman with blatant disdain for his loose ethics and grating personality, how on earth can Arizonans trust him to work on their behalf?”
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