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Drug Czar's Barthwell Behaves Badly, Resigns,
By KEN GUGGENHEIM-Associated Press Writer | Newsday | July 15, 2004, 12:11 PM EDT

Memo Rips GOP Hopeful for 'Lewd' Actions

WASHINGTON -- A potential Republican candidate for the Senate seat from Illinois -- where the party's nominee withdrew over sex club allegations -- engaged in "lewd and abusive behavior" while she served as a top official in the White House drug policy office, an internal inquiry found last year.

In front of her staff, Andrea Grubb Barthwell made repeated comments about the sexual orientation of a staff member and used a kaleidoscope to make sexually offensive gestures, according to the findings of a March 19, 2003, "hostile workplace memorandum" prepared by drug policy office staff. The Associated Press obtained the memorandum.

In an interview Wednesday with the AP, Barthwell said the memorandum overstates what happened, but she said she was wrong for participating in "inappropriate banter" at a staff birthday party.

"As the senior person there it was my job to stop it before it got started and I didn't. I in fact joined in," she said.

Barthwell said she has not decided whether to pursue the Senate seat, but she said the complaint should not be a factor in her candidacy.

"I think it's something that was in the past, something we dealt with and it was resolved to everyone's satisfaction," she said.

Barthwell, a Chicago-area physician and a political unknown, resigned last week as deputy director for demand reduction in the Office of National Drug Control Policy to explore pursuing the nomination.

Republicans have been scrambling for a candidate since Jack Ryan dropped out of the race last month over allegations in his divorce papers that he took his wife, "Boston Public" actress Jeri Ryan, to sex clubs before they split up.

Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka, who considered running for the seat as a Republican, decided not to enter the race, GOP officials said Wednesday night. Dairy owner James Oberweis, who finished second behind Ryan in the primary, has been mentioned as a possible replacement candidate.

At the drug policy office, Barthwell oversaw national efforts to prevent and treat drug abuse. She won bipartisan praise after being nominated by President Bush in 2001.

The report says her staff had "the highest regard for Dr. Barthwell's credentials and knowledge, but ... almost uniformly stated their fear and discomfort with what they consider to be unusual behavior patterns and displays of temper."

The lewd and abusive behavior finding stemmed from a Dec. 19, 2002, staff gathering. Barthwell made comments about a staff member's sexual orientation after the staff member misspoke in an earlier conversation, the memorandum said.

"Dr. Barthwell made reference to this staff member sitting on men's laps. A kaleidoscope pointed upward was placed on a chair by Dr. Barthwell as the staff member was about to sit down," it said.

"Dr. Barthwell suggested that the staff member would want to cut the cake available for the gathering because the knife was 'long and hard' and he might 'enjoy handling it.' When the cake was cut, Dr. Barthwell referred to the pieces as 'most' or 'beefy' and she said to the staff member, 'I know you like it big and meaty.'"

The staff member was not identified.

In the interview, Barthwell said the staff member was engaged in the banter and didn't seem uncomfortable.

"Had he been the least bit uncomfortable at the time, I would have brought it to a stop," she said. "Because he was an active participant, I didn't."

The memorandum, though, said the staff member and at least one other person objected to her comments. It said the staff member felt the comments were "lewd, derogatory and called into question his heterosexuality."

The staff member didn't file the complaint; another colleague did. The matter was then referred to a fact-finder, in accordance with the drug policy office's long-standing procedures for resolving personnel issues such as sexual harassment or discrimination complaints.

A fact-finder interviewed 26 people, including 13 within Barthwell's department, for the memorandum.

Tom Riley, a spokesman for the drug office, said, "The grievance was resolved to the satisfaction of all parties." He declined to discuss specifics, citing privacy concerns.

As a result of the grievance, everyone in the office was required to participate in sexual harassment training, Barthwell said. She said she was also asked to take an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission course "to make sure that I had information available to me to prepare me to be a supervisor in the government workplace."

John Fluharty, a gay Republican serving as an adviser to Barthwell, rejected any suggestion that she is insensitive. "She is a decent, honorable woman who would be an asset in the United States Senate," he said.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press



GOP Senate hopeful engaged in 'lewd' behavior
BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Reporter | Chicago Sun-Times | July 16, 2004

A former White House deputy drug czar hoping to become the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate was found to have "engaged in lewd and abusive behavior" by joking about the sexual orientation of an underling at an office party.

An internal investigation last year substantiated charges that Dr. Andrea Grubb Barthwell made jokes about a male employee's sexuality after he mistakenly referred to his daughter's boyfriend as "my boyfriend."

In front of a group of co-workers, Barthwell spoke of the man wanting to sit in other men's laps, pretended a kaleidoscope was a male sexual organ and set it pointing upwards on a chair he was about to sit in, according to the report. She also suggested he cut the cake at the party because the knife was "long and hard" and he might enjoy handling it."

"I know you like it big and meaty," Barthwell allegedly told him when commenting on the pieces of cake being "moist" and "beefy."

Barthwell, 50, quit her job as a deputy director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy last week so she could interview with Republican leaders looking for a replacement for GOP Senate nominee Jack Ryan, who folded his candidacy amid allegations he once took his wife to sex clubs.

[zombienote: Bwahahaha! The Party of Superior Morality, without a doubt.]

The Chicago Sun-Times obtained a copy of the internal inquiry into whether Barthwell created a "hostile workplace." An agency spokeswoman confirmed its accuracy and said Barthwell was sent to anti-sexual harassment training and Equal Employment Opportunity training. "The matter was addressed to the satisfaction of all parties," said agency spokeswoman Jennifer de Vallance.

Barthwell said the Dec. 19, 2002, office party was to celebrate the holidays and workers with birthdays that month. She admitted to participating in what she described as "light banter back and forth" after a heterosexual worker mistakenly said he had to walk his "boyfriend's dog."

"He meant to say 'my daughter's boyfriend's dog,'" Barthwell said. "One of his co-workers picked up on it and teased him. . . . And I engaged in the banter also.

"I should not have participated in it. I regret it. And I'm sorry. . . . it was foolish of me. I was wrong."

[zombienote: She needs to stick to the GOP script: She should say "I misspoke", the new euphamism for their feet seeking an exit-strategy from their mouths.]

Another worker included the incident with other complaints in a "hostile workplace" memorandum, and agency officials ordered a fact-finding inquiry. After interviewing 26 people inside and outside the agency, the official conducting the probe reported the "allegation is fully substantiated by multiple interviews."

The inquiry found evidence of "excessive displays of temper by Dr. Barthwell" and concluded her management style "created an atmosphere of intimidation and lack of respect for" the agency's leadership.

Barthwell dismissed those findings as the complaints of employees who were upset that she came in with a mission to increase productivity in the department, which had lacked a politically appointed deputy director for 11 years.

A former employee, Bernie McCann, described Barthwell's tenure as "a management nightmare," so bad that her staff dropped from 14 when she started to two in late 2003.

"They found Dr. Barthwell difficult to work for -- and we can even say extremely difficult to work for," said McCann, 50, a policy analyst who left the department to pursue a doctoral degree. "There were, I think the term might be 'dressing downs,' bullying, arbitrary supervisory decisions . . . belittling . . . ridicule."

Barthwell dismissed McCann as "a former disgruntled employee and said the number of workers dropped because "early retirement was given as an option, and a number of people who couldn't keep up with the pace opted out."

Barthwell also said she is recovering from addictions to alcohol, cocaine, prescription drugs and marijuana, but has not used any of those substances for 20 years.

"My history is much like many other people," she said.

[zombienote: Except for having had her life ruined by marijuana laws. She knows the truth about pot and yet took lots of money to spread lies and pursue the ruination of thousands of otherwise innocent lives. Ol' Dick Cheney has some advice for her.]

Members of the Republican State Central Committee, which must choose Ryan's replacement, were split on whether the incident would hurt Barthwell's chances.

[zombienote: This couldn't happen to a better candidate. Do as we say, not as we do! And it's not even convention time!

Amazing Hypocrites, Inc.

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Alien Space Signal

There's no money for your issue so long as we're squandering $50 billion a year on the DrugWar. Ben Masel

Fear became the ultimate tool of this government - V.

 

Suetaz

So how many are left now that are celebrating her resignation?

She must have been quite the evil witch to work for. I've had bad bosses before, but I think she would take the cake for worst boss ever, at least to those that worked for her.

I didn't know this! What a hypocrite! I'm glad she resigned and I hope she isn't acepted as a candidate.

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xxdr_zombiexx

Sex, hypocrisy & the GOP

Whether they're impeaching a president over it, getting agitated by hearing too much about it, looking to lay down legislation against it, or just plain looking for some of it, social conservatives have something in common with the rest of us: sex.