The officials overseeing the Host Committee for the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisc. are being investigated for “bullying and workplace harassment,” the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on Monday.
Host Committee president Liz Gilbert “will not have direct contact with staff,” according to a letter from the committee board obtained by the Sentinel. Chief of staff Adam Alonso was placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation.
Both Gilbert and Alonso are New Jersey-based political operatives, and two officials who worked with the Host Committee said Gilbert and Alonso directed contracts connected to the Convention to friends in their home state. The Host Committee is responsible for raising $70 million and recruiting 15,000 volunteers to stage the Democratic Convention.
“It’s one of the worst — if not the worst — I have worked on,” said one official regarding the Host Committee.
The New Jersey Democratic State Committee cut ties with Alonso, a former adviser to current Governor Phil Murphy, upon learning he was under investigation. Murphy, a Democrat, was dogged by allegations of a “toxic” and “misogynistic” environment within his 2017 campaign.
“The Democratic Party is firm in our belief that every person deserves to feel safe and respected at their place of work, and we will always take seriously claims of bullying and workplace harassment,” wrote Joe Solomonese, the chief executive of the Democratic National Convention Committee, in a statement. Host Committee employees’ allegations “present an unacceptable and upsetting environment.”
The news comes as the Iowa Democratic Party struggles to handle the fallout from its caucus results-reporting app. Malfunctions in the app, designed by a company called Shadow, Inc. run by former Clinton-campaign employees, have severely delayed the final reports of the Iowa caucus.