Report: Disgraced Congressman’s Office Fueled By ‘Screaming,’ ‘Mind Games’

FILE - In this March 26, 2015, file photo, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murphy who was caught up in affair scandal, announces he plans to retire at end of his current term. (AP Photo/A... FILE - In this March 26, 2015, file photo, Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa. speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington. Murphy who was caught up in affair scandal, announces he plans to retire at end of his current term. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA), who announced his resignation from Congress Thursday, reportedly ran a office rife with the mistreatment of staffers.

Before his resignation, the vocally pro-life Pennsylvania Republican was revealed to have asked a mistress to get an abortion.

Politico reported the behavior on Thursday, following Murphy’s announcement of his resignation. The outlet reported that a potential investigation into Murphy’s treatment of his employees by the House Ethics Committee motivated his resignation as much as the revelations about his mistress.

Multiple unnamed former Murphy staffers told Politico that the behavior of the congressman’s chief of staff, Susan Mosychuk, had moved them to quit.

“It was one of the worst places I have ever worked in my life. There was screaming. Intimidation. Nothing you ever did was right,” a former Murphy district director, Nick Rodondo, told Pittsburgh radio station KDKA, Politico noted.

Every other source was unnamed: Politico reported that Mosychuk called staffers “worthless” and their work “garbage.”

“It’s not like a private company where you have an HR department,” one former staffer told Politico. “It was a culture of abuse and a culture of corruption. There really is no oversight.”

“Screaming was an everyday thing,” said another unnamed former staffer. “The manipulation and the mind games. … Everybody in that office was depressed.”

Multiple unnamed ex-staffers told the publication the chief of staff used white noise machines placed around the congressman’s office in order to mask the sound of her screaming. Staffers were told to take the stairs instead of the elevator as a punishment, according to one former employee, and bathroom breaks were cut short in order to administer verbal disciplining.

Politico also reported that a leaked June 2017 memo by Mosychuk, called “Office Conduct and Behavior: Harassment/Legal Compliance” and outlining supposed abusive behavior by the congressman, more accurately described Mosychuk’s own behavior.

“She was the one who would verbally abuse staff,” one unnamed ex-staffer said. “He was bad, but you can deal with a tough member. She was literally terrorizing people.”

Read Politico’s full story here.

Latest Livewire

Notable Replies

  1. “Petard”. As to be hoist in one’s own.

  2. White noise machines to cover up the screaming. I’ve seen some unhappy shops but that’s pretty bad.

  3. She was literally terrorizing people.

    Perfect candidate for Republican Nominee for POTUS, A She-Drumpf.

  4. There’s no audio? Everyone now has a camera, video and a audio recorder in their pockets.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

47 more replies

Participants

Avatar for jootjoint Avatar for sysprog Avatar for mattinpa Avatar for leftflank Avatar for krusher Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for thebigragu Avatar for chelsea530 Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for sonsofares Avatar for lastroth Avatar for neal_anderthal Avatar for twowolves Avatar for dickweed Avatar for thunderclapnewman Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for antisachetdethe Avatar for fjasmine Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for nbcosta Avatar for dannysgrandma Avatar for billyjoe Avatar for rmfrank

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: