Ex-aides allege tasks for lawmaker including picking up groceries, dog poop: report

Ex-aides for Virginia Rep. Tom Garrett (R) say that the congressman routinely assigned his staff menial tasks, including picking up groceries and dog poop, among others.

Four of Garrett’s former staffers described to Politico an office environment in which full-time staffers and interns were regularly asked to assist the congressman and his wife with personal tasks that fell outside of their official roles. 

The aides were reportedly told to watch the congressman’s dog, Sophie, during business hours on multiple occasions — a task that included cleaning up after the dog when it defecated on the floor and returning it to Garrett’s Washington apartment when he seemingly forgot it was in the office.

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Flanna, Garrett’s wife, reportedly also ordered her husband’s staff on errands. One aide described being asked to pick Flanna up from the supermarket and unload her groceries at their Washington apartment. 

Each of the staffers asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution — they describe the Garretts as being “known for explosive tempers.” 

“I didn’t know who I was working for: Was I working for him? Was I working for her?” one aide recounted. “We became their gofers.”

Garrett’s office was not immediately available to provide a statement on the report. A spokesman for the congressman declined to address the complaints to Politico. 

The report comes one day after Garrett gave a strange, rambling press conference on Thursday, in which he addressed his chief of staff’s abrupt departure and denied reports that he was considering retiring from office.