Chris Van Hollen’s wife demoralizing his office (dear white staffer)

[Anonymous]

Anyone who doesn’t think the vast majority of stories are true is truly naive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, I hope he figures out which staffer is slandering his wife online and fires him or her. Very bad judgment.

I hope he also asks himself if the complainers have a legit point.

The complainer should bring it up with the chief of staff or Chris himself. They shouldn’t be posting on social media. That shows incredibly poor judgment. What else what they leaked to the press? One of the number one traits of a good hill staffer is discretion and judgment. If someone is posting negative things about their member on social media, they need to go get another job.

How do you know he didn’t bring it up with Van Hollen?

[Anonymous]

Unpaid internships should be illegal.

[Anonymous]

You’d be shocked how many wives set up a desk in their husband’s office in congress. They are normally demanding, rude and a complete moral buster. And no, CoS isn’t going to stand up to the wife - especially in a House office.

[Anonymous]

Never heard of Chris Van Hollen’s wife, Katherine Wilkins, before. Per this bio of her that I found online, it sounds like she legitimately has something to offer Senator Van Holler’s office:

“She holds a master’s degrees frоm thе John F. Kennedy School оf Government аt Harvard University аnd a BS frоm Cornell…Mrs. Van Hollen is a nonresident аѕѕосiаtе in thе Middle Eаѕt Program аt thе Carnegie Endowment. Shе joined Carnegie аftеr fivе years аѕ a vice president оf AMIDEAST, аn American nonprofit organization engaged in education, training, аnd capacity building in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd North Africa, whеrе ѕhе wаѕ engaged in promoting higher-education initiatives in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd partnerships bеtwееn thе United States аnd thе region tо expand educational quality аnd entrepreneurship training.

Shе served аѕ president оf thе World Affairs Council оf Washington, DC, frоm 2004 tо 2007, whеrе ѕhе spearheaded regional educational initiatives tо enhance student аnd citizen education оn foreign policy issues. Prior tо that, Wilkens held senior positions in thе U.S. government fоr оvеr a decade, including аѕ senior adviser fоr Caspian energy issues аt thе U.S. Department оf Energy аnd staff director аnd professional staff member оf thе House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee оn Europe аnd thе Middle Eаѕt undеr thе leadership оf thеn chairman Lee H. Hamilton.

She began hеr career аѕ a State Department analyst аnd specialist оn Turkey аnd thе Eastern Mediterranean. Shе hаѕ bееn аn international affairs fellow аt thе Council оn Foreign Relations, a Presidential Management Fellow, аnd a member оf thе Board оf Directors оf Meridian International Center.”

[Anonymous]

She used to park in the handicap space at Grace Episcopal Day School (the old lower school on GA Ave) and it pissed us all off so much. It's a really bad look of entitlement and "I'm too important to park a few spaces away". Kids were in after care so the lot was basically empty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous trashing on social media is cowardly and weak. Not something to be lauded.

Is it okay if they were trashing Repubs?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She used to park in the handicap space at Grace Episcopal Day School (the old lower school on GA Ave) and it pissed us all off so much. It's a really bad look of entitlement and "I'm too important to park a few spaces away". Kids were in after care so the lot was basically empty.

Gross.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anonymous trashing on social media is cowardly and weak. Not something to be lauded.

Abusing and allowing your staff to be abused is cowardly and weak.

Let the sunshine in.

Not suprised by any of the revelations so far.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds insufferable.


Voters elected him. Not her.

Well, when you voted him in, you get two for one.

[Anonymous]

The word abuse is being used a lot here. What are the abuses? I am not in this world so I don’t know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this is true, I hope he figures out which staffer is slandering his wife online and fires him or her. Very bad judgment.

I hope he also asks himself if the complainers have a legit point.

The complainer should bring it up with the chief of staff or Chris himself. They shouldn’t be posting on social media. That shows incredibly poor judgment. What else what they leaked to the press? One of the number one traits of a good hill staffer is discretion and judgment. If someone is posting negative things about their member on social media, they need to go get another job.

Of course but we all know bosses aren't always willing to listen to staff. Esp. about their wife!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of Chris Van Hollen’s wife, Katherine Wilkins, before. Per this bio of her that I found online, it sounds like she legitimately has something to offer Senator Van Holler’s office:

“She holds a master’s degrees frоm thе John F. Kennedy School оf Government аt Harvard University аnd a BS frоm Cornell…Mrs. Van Hollen is a nonresident аѕѕосiаtе in thе Middle Eаѕt Program аt thе Carnegie Endowment. Shе joined Carnegie аftеr fivе years аѕ a vice president оf AMIDEAST, аn American nonprofit organization engaged in education, training, аnd capacity building in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd North Africa, whеrе ѕhе wаѕ engaged in promoting higher-education initiatives in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd partnerships bеtwееn thе United States аnd thе region tо expand educational quality аnd entrepreneurship training.

Shе served аѕ president оf thе World Affairs Council оf Washington, DC, frоm 2004 tо 2007, whеrе ѕhе spearheaded regional educational initiatives tо enhance student аnd citizen education оn foreign policy issues. Prior tо that, Wilkens held senior positions in thе U.S. government fоr оvеr a decade, including аѕ senior adviser fоr Caspian energy issues аt thе U.S. Department оf Energy аnd staff director аnd professional staff member оf thе House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee оn Europe аnd thе Middle Eаѕt undеr thе leadership оf thеn chairman Lee H. Hamilton.

She began hеr career аѕ a State Department analyst аnd specialist оn Turkey аnd thе Eastern Mediterranean. Shе hаѕ bееn аn international affairs fellow аt thе Council оn Foreign Relations, a Presidential Management Fellow, аnd a member оf thе Board оf Directors оf Meridian International Center.”

While that might make her qualified to work in a Congressional office, and even his Congressional office, the stories coming out illustrate why hiring family in a professional office can be a bad idea. It's the same reason why Jeff Zucker's longterm affair with someone subordinate to him was hugely problematic even though she was, by all reports, qualified both for her job and for subsequent promotions. It just creates lots of really terrible power dynamics, and this is made much worse in industries (like politics and TV) where there are lots of under or unpaid staff who get treated poorly even by people who are not related to or sleeping with the boss. These are not places with strong HR departments or transparency in promotions and internal decision-making.

If he wanted to utilize her, the appropriate thing to do is either have her advise him at home (lots of politicians have kitchen cabinets and it's a smart way to utilize a network of people with policy chops without muddying the waters in the office) or perhaps to have her hired into a formal position in the office where boundaries are very clear and there is accountability that doesn't rely on people telling a Senator his wife has been inappropriate towards interns and entry-level staff. Because that won't happen.

She definitely should not have been interviewing incoming staff, for instance, and both she and Van Hollen should have recognized how it would look to ask staff to run personal errands or do favors for her. It's abusive, full stop. I never understand how people who should know better convince themselves that stuff like this is okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of Chris Van Hollen’s wife, Katherine Wilkins, before. Per this bio of her that I found online, it sounds like she legitimately has something to offer Senator Van Holler’s office:

“She holds a master’s degrees frоm thе John F. Kennedy School оf Government аt Harvard University аnd a BS frоm Cornell…Mrs. Van Hollen is a nonresident аѕѕосiаtе in thе Middle Eаѕt Program аt thе Carnegie Endowment. Shе joined Carnegie аftеr fivе years аѕ a vice president оf AMIDEAST, аn American nonprofit organization engaged in education, training, аnd capacity building in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd North Africa, whеrе ѕhе wаѕ engaged in promoting higher-education initiatives in thе Middle Eаѕt аnd partnerships bеtwееn thе United States аnd thе region tо expand educational quality аnd entrepreneurship training.

Shе served аѕ president оf thе World Affairs Council оf Washington, DC, frоm 2004 tо 2007, whеrе ѕhе spearheaded regional educational initiatives tо enhance student аnd citizen education оn foreign policy issues. Prior tо that, Wilkens held senior positions in thе U.S. government fоr оvеr a decade, including аѕ senior adviser fоr Caspian energy issues аt thе U.S. Department оf Energy аnd staff director аnd professional staff member оf thе House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee оn Europe аnd thе Middle Eаѕt undеr thе leadership оf thеn chairman Lee H. Hamilton.

She began hеr career аѕ a State Department analyst аnd specialist оn Turkey аnd thе Eastern Mediterranean. Shе hаѕ bееn аn international affairs fellow аt thе Council оn Foreign Relations, a Presidential Management Fellow, аnd a member оf thе Board оf Directors оf Meridian International Center.”

While that might make her qualified to work in a Congressional office, and even his Congressional office, the stories coming out illustrate why hiring family in a professional office can be a bad idea. It's the same reason why Jeff Zucker's longterm affair with someone subordinate to him was hugely problematic even though she was, by all reports, qualified both for her job and for subsequent promotions. It just creates lots of really terrible power dynamics, and this is made much worse in industries (like politics and TV) where there are lots of under or unpaid staff who get treated poorly even by people who are not related to or sleeping with the boss. These are not places with strong HR departments or transparency in promotions and internal decision-making.

If he wanted to utilize her, the appropriate thing to do is either have her advise him at home (lots of politicians have kitchen cabinets and it's a smart way to utilize a network of people with policy chops without muddying the waters in the office) or perhaps to have her hired into a formal position in the office where boundaries are very clear and there is accountability that doesn't rely on people telling a Senator his wife has been inappropriate towards interns and entry-level staff. Because that won't happen.

She definitely should not have been interviewing incoming staff, for instance, and both she and Van Hollen should have recognized how it would look to ask staff to run personal errands or do favors for her. It's abusive, full stop. I never understand how people who should know better convince themselves that stuff like this is okay.

Thank you for this well crafted reply.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The word abuse is being used a lot here. What are the abuses? I am not in this world so I don’t know.

Abuse isn't just physical or sexual. You can have an abuse of power, which is where someone exploits their power over someone to get something they aren't otherwise entitled to. This could be a sexual favor or a ride to work. Either way it's a abusive (though obviously some kinds of abuse are more traumatizing than others).

IME, people who feel comfortable abusing power in seemingly small and insignificant ways can quickly get normalized to the idea of bigger abuses. Like if you think it's fine and normal to have your interns run personal errands for you, then my experience has shown you are also less likely to draw and firm line around inter-office relationships. I worked in a place (not Congress) where people in senior management often had young staff doing things like watching their kids, helping with party planning, running errands, etc. Unsurprisingly, when that workplace saw a series of sexual harassment claims, it was a HUGE mess because the lines had been so blurry for so long. A lot of people in the office kind of shrugged there shoulders at examples of very obvious sexual harassment (a manager making unwanted sexual advances towards a very low-paid staffer who did not feel she could say anything about it). People just get desensitized to these abuses of power and convince themselves that even someone who is unpaid or makes a pittance, or who is in a very junior position, will always "feel empowered" to speak up when something crosses a line. It's a self-serving attitude and the people in power often protect each other so that they can all keep crossing those lines to serve their own purposes. It's a really terrible workplace culture and it NEVER works out well for junior staff.

This is why workplace ethics is a thing, and why sometimes workplaces have strict rules about romance, hiring family, conflicts of interest, etc. Human beings are bad at this and without external accountability measures, they will run amok.