August 16, 2021 09:46 AM UTC

Doug Lamborn: Worst Boss In The World?

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• by: Colorado Pols

The Denver Post’s Conrad Swanson follows up on a story we’ve been watching for several months now–a wrongful termination lawsuit filed by a former staffer for Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn of El Paso County alleging Lamborn deliberately created an unsafe working environment during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, displaying wanton disregard for best practices that resulted in an outbreak in Lamborn’s office and the congressman himself testing positive.

The new details reported today are…not real good for Lamborn:

In his sworn statements to [attorney Les] Alderman, [Former Lamborn district director Josh] Hosler — who declined to comment for this article — said [Staffer Brandon] Pope was under his direct supervision and served as a model employee. Pope voiced his concerns about Lamborn’s office’s “careless approach” to the pandemic frequently from March 2020 until he was fired by Chief of Staff Dale Anderson that December.

Throughout that time Lamborn referred to the pandemic as a hoax “fabricated to derail then-President Donald Trump’s reelection bid” [Pols emphasis] and Anderson called those concerned about the virus “liberal sissies” who were overreacting, Hosler said in the sworn statement…

Among the sworn statements from ex-Lamborn district director Josh Hosler is a potentially explosive allegation that Rep. Lamborn lied to the Office of the Attending Physician about his contact with staff as the outbreak raged through his office:

“I was driving Congressman Lamborn when he learned that his Deputy Chief of Staff had tested positive for COVID-19 and that additional staffers were symptomatic,” Hosler said. “Upon learning this, the Congressman spoke to a physician within the Office of the Attending Physician, but the Congressman misrepresented the facts and falsely told the OAP physician that he had not been in close contact with his staff in D.C. over the previous several days.” [Pols emphasis]

The wrongful termination lawsuit against Lamborn is specific to the grievances of the employee in question, but other highly questionable actions by Lamborn with respect to managing his office came to light as part of this reporting–including improper use of staff to run personal errands for Lamborn’s spouse, and an even wilder case of Lamborn allegedly allowing his son to live in a storage space in the U.S. Capitol basement.

Add all of that to these new allegations of lying to congressional medical personnel about his contact with COVID-positive staffers–right before traveling around Colorado after being exposed and ultimately testing positive himself–maybe a tipping point will have been reached? Lamborn’s egregious irresponsibility and abuse of his office’s perks would be bigger headlines in a less-crazy world, and it’s powerful ammo for a primary challenger even if congressional oversight is lacking.

Safe to say, we wouldn’t work for Lamborn on a bet.