Update: December 11, 2013, 5:16 PM
The first word of Ryan Loskarn’s trouble came Wednesday morning, when Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) announced that law enforcement agents had searched the residence of his top aide.
A few hours later, the Justice Department confirmed that Loskarn had been arrested on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography, and Alexander announced that he had appointed a new chief of staff and removed Loskarn from his payroll.
“I am stunned, surprised and disappointed by what I have learned,” Alexander said in a statement.
Loskarn, a 35-year-old Maryland native, has spent more than a decade in politics, and had served as Alexander’s chief of staff since 2011. He has been called “one of the Senate GOP’s top strategists and aides” and been named one of Roll Call’s “Fabulous 50.”
Over the past few years, Loskarn’s name had popped up occasionally in the D.C. media.
In 2010, Loskarn, who was then the staff director for the Senate Republican Conference Committee (SRCC), talked to Politico about how he spent his 32nd birthday, which fell on a weekend. The festivities included drinks at The Pug on H Street, the National Symphony at Kennedy Center, and a dinner at Taberna del Alabardero near the White House.
Roll Call reported on Loskarn’s appointment as Alexander’s chief of staff in 2011. The newspaper noted Loskarn’s past work for the SRCC, which included some time under former Sen. Jon Kyl. It also said he had worked for former Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA), Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), and the House Rules Committee.
“I am fortunate that Ryan Loskarn is willing to transfer his considerable skills from leading the Republican Conference to leading my Senate staff,” Alexander said at the time.
According to Gawker, Loskarn’s only past run-in with law enforcement was a 2007 traffic citation in Virginia for going 47 in a 30-mile-an-hour zone.
This post has been updated.
