Nytimes: Labor Secretary’s Husband Barred From Department Headquarters After Allegations

The nytimes published that Dr. Shawn DeRemer, the husband of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer, has been barred from the Labor Department’s headquarters on Constitution Avenue after at least two female staff members said he touched them inappropriately, a move tied to a police report and an internal inspector general probe.

Nytimes: Security footage and a police report are part of the record

The nytimes said one incident took place on the morning of Dec. 18 and was captured on the department’s office security cameras; the video shows Dr. DeRemer giving one of the women an extended embrace and was reviewed as part of a criminal investigation. Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department filed a report on Jan. 24 that references forced sexual contact at the Labor Department, and the Police Department’s sexual assault unit is investigating.

Building restriction notice bars DeRemer from Constitution Avenue premises

After staffers described the incidents to investigators, departmental officials issued a building restriction for Dr. DeRemer that directs staff: “If Mr. DeRemer attempts to enter, he is to be asked to leave. ” The restriction applies to the Labor Department’s headquarters on Constitution Avenue in Washington, where several aides and members of the security staff in Secretary Chavez-DeRemer’s inner circle have been placed on administrative or investigative leave as the inspector general’s office conducts its inquiry.

Inspector general probe and conflicting responses

The inspector general’s office is investigating a formal complaint that Secretary Chavez-DeRemer engaged in improper conduct with a member of her security detail and abused her office by taking staff to strip clubs, drinking on the job and taking personal trips at taxpayer expense; a lawyer for the secretary has denied those allegations. One account in the coverage said Dr. DeRemer did not respond to a request for comment, while another included a statement attributed to him that said, “There’s not an ounce of truth to this, and anyone who knows my wife would know that. ”

Dr. DeRemer is identified in the record as an anesthesiologist based in Portland, Oregon, who frequently visited his wife’s offices in Washington. Department spokespeople have not provided comment in the material made public in these accounts.

The widening scrutiny began after staff concerns were raised to the inspector general in January as part of the separate internal review of conduct in the secretary’s office. The building restriction and the Jan. 24 police report are among the concrete steps now tied to the inquiry.

Investigators from the police sexual assault unit and the inspector general’s office are continuing their work; officials have said the video and the police report are under review. The next confirmed developments are further actions by the police sexual assault unit and the ongoing inspector general investigation into the secretary’s office.