Chavez-DeRemer when Labor secretary had inappropriate relationship with bodyguard, IG report finds

Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April

Published: September 4, 2026 11:48am

Updated: September 4, 2026 1:16pm

The Labor Department's Office of Inspector General has concluded that Lori Chavez-DeRemer when she was the agency's secretary had an "inappropriately close and unprofessional" relationship with her bodyguard, which created a hostile work environment for her subordinates.

The office released the 44-page report Thursday after having initiated the investigation from an anonymous complaint received in January. The complaint alleged that Chavez-DeRemer had the inappropriate relationship with the assistant special agent-in-charge of her agency's Division of Protective Operations, according to Fox News

The report, which did not name the agent, alleged that Chavez-DeRemer; her chief of staff, Jihun Han; and deputy chief of staff, Rebecca Wright, created a hostile work environment and regularly consumed alcohol on agency property during business hours. 

In the course of the investigation, the OIG interviewed 38 witnesses who described the work environment at the DOL as "toxic, intimidating and humiliating." 

Chavez-DeRemer resigned in April.

During a trip to Oregon in April, the special agent complied with Chavez-DeRemer's request to make an unplanned, off-the-record stop at "an establishment that was determined upon entry to feature partially nude dancers," according to the report. The agent told the driver assigned to Chavez-DeRemer's to enter the establishment with her, and, according to the report, she gave the driver a cash and told him to give it to one of the dancers. When the driver refused, the special agent instructed him to comply, also according to Fox News. 

 

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