Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) disciplined his chief of staff Kevin Reigrut for letting an underaged intern drink at her going away party, the Baltimore Sun reports. A spokesman for Harris told the newspaper that aides did not realize that the intern was under 21 when they let her drink at a party held at the representative’s office.
“When [Harris] found out about the incident … he made it very clear that no alcohol was to be consumed in any of his offices, period,” spokesman Ryan Nawrocki told the newspaper. “There was immediate and appropriate disciplinary action taken.”
Joe Steffen, a former aide for Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., wrote in a blog post that the intern in question was kicked out of her program when she showed up “trashed” at her supervised dorm room after curfew.
Steffen’s blog says Reigrut tried to shift blame for the underage drinking incident to a former legislative aide, Laurel Schmuck, and that her father, Peter Schmuck, confronted Harris during a telephone call. Peter Schmuck is a longtime sports columnist for The Baltimore Sun.
Reached by e-mail, Laurel Schmuck discounted Steffen’s suggestion that she was fired over the drinking incident. She said she left Harris’ office “in good standing several months after giving notice I would be accepting a graduate fellowship…That was my only reason for leaving. I remain on good terms with the congressman and appreciated the opportunity to work for him.”
