Hill staffers fired in Twitter flap

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Politico

They called it a “December to Remember”: a mission to spend the final month of the legislative session partying under the patronage of Rep. Rick Larsen.

Eight days into it, and a series of ill-advised tweets later, three staffers for the Washington Democrat were fired Thursday after a local website detailed a pattern of wildly unprofessional behavior—including drinking on the job and insulting the congressman—POLITICO has confirmed.

“Congressman Larsen and his staff became aware of the issue concerning the three staff members at noon EST. We became aware of the issue through a tweet referencing an article about the incident. Congressman Larsen immediately decided to fire the three staff members involved in the incident. The staff members were dismissed at 1:10 p.m. EST,” Larsen’s office said in a statement.

The Capitol Hill staff culture has always resembled a fraternity party for the just out of college professionals who dominate the offices. In this case, staffers clearly crossed the line, Larsen’s office says.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70116.html

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This is crazy stuff. When I used to work on the Hill, it was common for staffers to drink in the office, but only on Friday in the late afternoon (after the Congressman or Senator had left town for the district). It appears that these people were totally out of control and dumb enough to let the world know about it via Twitter.