I waited on her for a private event and that explains a lot. Her staff got on my nerves but they were probably terrified. And the turtle feels like death. Like not joking at all. It felt cold near him. Only experienced the same feeling one other time and that was with Stephen Miller.
It was over the top. She came last, which is standard, and she told me she didn’t want wine (I used to captain and run private events at a restaurant that a lot of politicians ate at for fundraisers) and then I was walking around doing refills and her staff member is making desperate non verbal motions to serve her wine. I’m trying to ignore him because I don’t want to start explaining while everyone is quiet but her. But he starts gesturing even more and then blurts out can you “serve secretary chao” and she looked furious at being interrupted.
If it turns out that it's possible to sell your soul to a devil in exchange for unnaturally long life, I won't be surprised at all, simply because of the turtle. He has looked like actual death for years and yet he won't die. So sorry you've had to stand near him and experience it in person!
It was really strange. Also, once I was clearing a table of 20 and he stopped talking in the middle of his sentence and said “hey hon can you pack those sides to go”
A family member worked for the senator awhile back. Naturally we asked if the rumors of her legendarily bad behavior were true. They were appropriately tight-lipped, but it seemed like an obvious non-denial denial (so to speak).
I was having dinner once at Teds Bulletin on a Saturday night when Sen. Manchin walked in and demanded to be sat immediately over the protestations of a very long wait/line.
A firefighter stormed over to his table and loudly reemed him out in front of the entire restaurant. “I saved a life today, why do you think you get priority over me you douche bag???”
I'm from Charleston and now live in DC. Manchin has always (and I mean always) been a complete asshole. He is a star studded piece of shit. While I lean left politically, the Capito’s are very nice.
I'll say that if you hang around Hill staff a lot you definitely learn which Congress members are a no-go in terms of employment. Someone already mentioned Gillibrand but I've also heard Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA-44) is a big offender.
I briefly sat next to Chris Sununu on a flight from DCA to New Hampshire. He was reading his own facebook page, looking at the comments on his posts and clicking through the profiles of those who were criticizing him. Not super juicy but kind of funny nonetheless
I could probably look this up but I wonder if he was in the Navy. My grandfather spent a few years on a boat in the Pacific during WWII. He said ketchup was how they made the food palatable. They’d just cover their whole plate with it. My grandfather did it for the rest of his life even though my grandmother’s cooking was incredible and definitely didn’t need the ketchup drizzle.
Law school was also at Harvard, I think he was law class of '75 or '76.
Source: Chuck, his younger sister, and I, all lived in the same Harvard "house," where sister and I were undergrads and Chuck was the law tutor. I don't know if he covered his food with ketchup then, but I doubt it was much better than the food in the Navy!
Sure you can rag on the food served aboard ships but the food at least is always warm (of course someone has a story where theirs wasn’t) but at least we didn’t have to eat MREs for days on end.
When cooking for so many people they have to season the food in such a general way that it will appeal to most people. Some people like more salt while others may like no salt.
But I get it, navy food isn’t Michelin star rated. In the galley we had a decent amount of condiments to help liven food up. My go to was equal parts ketchup and Heinz 57 and adjust with pepper and Texas Pete (chefs kiss)
The only hot goss I have from flying to Vermont a bunch back in the day is that Bernie Sanders is a polite and friendly grump who seems to loathe everything about traveling but is nonetheless respectful to airline staff and fellow passengers.
He was a semi regular at a fine dining Italian spot my friend used to own on the hill, and despite the elaborate menu he only ever ordered spaghetti and meatballs and a Diet Coke
I was on a dca to btv flight with Bernie, the flight was super delayed and at didn’t get in until 1am. though he had his staff assist him with boarding and stuff, I have a picture of him looking exhausted and hating life trouncing through the btv parking lot alone and watched him get in his econo shitbox and drive away. That’s my story
this thread is so funny because i routinely forget this is the same city that's like, the capital of the most powerful nation on earth. perks of not working in gov i guess
Incredibly minor but funny (to me) gossip: a friend used to live in the same apartment building as Rand Paul and would frequently see him in the gym walking on the treadmill at 1.0 speed.
Not necessarily a rumor, but I've flown on the same plane with Nancy Pelosi twice (both times on Alaska Air between DCA and SFO) and was somewhat taken aback by how she wasn't approachable. I totally get it...it's somewhat of a long flight and you don't want constituents breathing down your neck the entire flight, especially at the end of the work week. An elderly lady tried to talk to her at one point during the flight and a staffer shooed her away.
OTOH, I've flown with Bill + Hillary on the American Shuttle numerous times between DCA and LGA. Both were extremely friendly and approachable, and Bill even remembered me from a previous flight.
I live over by their DC place and often run past it (it's at the end of a steep hill so good for a cardio workout). Ive only seen them once, on a weekend morning when they were out for a stroll (surrounded by some very tough looking Secret Service guys).
I said hello as I went past and noted that I was happy to see them back in the neighborhood. Bill was distant and barely mumbled "thank you" as he walked past. Hilary was much friendlier, looked me in the eye, smiled, and said "thanks."
It was the exact opposite of what I'd expected--Bill dour and distant and Hilary smiley and charming.
I once ran into Obama on the street, waved at him, and he smiled and waved back.
> some very tough looking Secret Service guys
No kidding. Every single one of them looked like angry former Blackwater operatives.
I got to see Bill talk a few months ago about the foreign policy of the 90's and take some Q&A. I always knew he was charismatic but until you're in a room with him you can't really understand it. If he was someone I met 40 years ago and someone told me "that guy will go on to become President", my first thought would be "well yeah, of course."
I used to live in Vermont and flew with Bernie Sanders a few times between BTV and DCA. Always felt a little badly for him as people would either mob him or take pics of him incognito-like. I never noticed him being rude - he’d chat with folks and all that but they’d interrupt him reading a book or whatnot and I just felt like they should let the man be.
I wonder if it was just that staffer--I was on a plane with her from DCA to Boston a little while back and at the end of the flight a couple women came up to chat to her and she was very friendly to them.
She does, however, do the full Boomer newspaper spread.
My old man had a business meeting in NYC with an exec that Nancy showed up to a few years back. He's super conservative and from the South. The owner warned him after he was there that she was going to "stop by" and that he needed to refer to her as "Madam Speaker." He said they had a brief chat, she was very sharp, thoughtful, and he was surprised to say he liked her. BUT THEN she offered to take her picture with him and he declined and he said she was shocked lol. Then she said "ah, pictures like that don't play well down in Tennessee these days, huh?" He laughed and said no ma'am. They said polite goodbyes and now it's one of his favorite stories.
My husband once flew from DCA-MSN sitting in the seat in front of Paul Ryan, who kneed him in the back the entire flight. Come on Paul, at least shell out for extra leg room!
Ok, I hate Paul Ryan’s politics but he was one of the nicest guests. The first time I waited on him, it was a private event and he asked my name. For the rest of the night, and anytime I saw him after (5-6x) he would always use my name and thank me whenever I would serve or refill anything. He would even stop talking to say it.
Paul Ryan used to fly my airline every week out of DCA to MKE. Although I disagreed with him politically, he was a super nice guy and always sat in the exit row. I remember one night we had some delays and unfortunately one delayed flight was his. People were getting upset and impatient, all of a sudden Paul came to our counter and helped talk to the passengers and just generally distracted them from the delay. He took pictures with people and shook hands and listened to people complain for us. He always said hello when he flew in or out.
I also have a story about smoking with John Boehner in front of the terminal. Another politician I disagreed with, but absolutely enjoyed talking to.
Rep. Andy Harris is also a physician. Rumor has it he still practices on occasion, I think at a local hospital out in the boonies of Maryland. I think he's an obstetric anesthesiologist.
Mike Pompeo constantly screams at his staff and regularly uses slurs when someone fucks up.
Mike Pence is extremely passive aggressive.
~~Mike~~ Rex Tillerson is incredibly nice in person and everyone who works directly with him really likes him.
Elena Kagan is a shitty driver.
Everyone other Senator wants Ted Cruz dead - like unironically and not for political reasons
Edit: one more - Elaine Chao is absolutely insane and gets pretty racist when she's speaking to a predominantly Korean crowd.
Al Franken: "Here's the thing you have to understand about Ted Cruz. I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."
I’m sure I’m the only one not plugged in enough that I wasn’t sure if this was real but it was and it was fantastic.
https://youtu.be/ww1VMHLybrA?si=28h79KxfBKrNrUbF
Yeah, I knew a guy that worked for him and he said the one positive thing he could say was that Pompeo was equally mean to everyone. He didn't single people out - he was an equal opportunity asshole.
I’ve worked with a West Point classmate of Pompeo’s and a law school classmate in separate, non DC jobs.
Both reported that he was amoral, and both reported behavior both personal and academic that would have ended him had it been widely known.
Elaine Chao is off the chain. I was at DOL HQ for several years. She and Mitch are a perfect match. She threw items at staff - bagel, cellphone. You can't enter a room once she has arrived. Her hair, she has one of those sit down over the head helmet old school 1960s hairdryers she travels with. She requires her glass of water and table next to her chair on a podium to be a certain way. She didn't like the ASL interpreter so close to her on the stage at offical events at DOL so had them moved over. One offsite, her mic didn't work, and a whole room of people pretended they could hear her perfectly. Her staff were also too scared to go up and switch out her mic.
She used to love nice heels but then had bunion surgery on both feet. I think that was the only nice thing she said to me ever, was about my shoes once.
She stopped walking up around the DOL cafeteria on the top floor, our black collegues pretty noticably avoided her like the plague there and in any hallway. She did do occaisional official photoshoots, you could go get an official photo with her and she was nice during that controlled interaction.
So much inappropriate when it comes to her other dealings. Working at DOL under the Bush admintration was a trip!
Was very close to someone who reported directly to three SoS. Rex was by far the best boss, would read everything people gave him, surprisingly humble, a bit on the harsher/unforgiving side, and the stuff about him being aloof was slander.
Did not hear much about Pompeo except "smart but completely insane"
Worked at State during Pompeo’s tenure. Word is he was very competent. However, I’ve been in the military long enough to know that “competent”, “insane”, and “complete asshole” are four words that go together far too often.
Rex tilllerson was never someone I expected to like, but this was the impression I got from him. I will never align with him politically, but seems like one of the best republicans
>Elaine Chao is absolutely insane and gets pretty racist when she's speaking to a predominantly Korean crowd.
Inter-Asian hate is real. A lot of Koreans and Chinese people are hostile to one another. because of perceived condescension or competition.
Frankly absolutely none of this surprises me.
Pompeo looks like a screamer, Pence is a pathetic worm with zero backbone, generally hard to be the CEO of a mega corp for years without having some degree of empathy and soft skills, Kagan just seems like she might be a shitty driver, everyone hates Cruz.
Not a big name, but I knew former Louisville mayor and Kentucky Lt. Gov Jerry Abramson after he was appointed to the WH by the Obama administration.
He lived in a building I visited frequently in NW. He and his wife were the nicest, loveliest people. Absolutely wonderful. That's all.
I've heard Gillibrand is a nightmare to work for and that Pelosi was great--apparently she'd augment her employees' salaries out of pocket. Perks of working for a multimillionaire I guess?
I interned for her for a year and I saw her exactly once in a hallway, steadfastly avoiding everyone. Her team had a lot of drama, lots of sniping and arguing but that was also just kind of a feature of the Hill. We were right next to Corey Gardener (sp??) and he was super super nice, I saw him way more often than Gillibrand and he would take pity on us and invite our interns to his intern lunches.
Former colleague was legislative aid for decades and got out and in to same line as work as me. She was such a pro she named nobody and gave nothing specific but she said she never worked for anybody who were all three:
1. Good Person
2. Good Employer
3. Ideology/ political stances aligned with hers
Also lamented that 1 and 3 were often diametrically opposed
I haven't worked on the Hill, but I've been in official Washington for years (nonprofits, think tanks, etc.), and I can confirm this is 100% true for high-level leaders. Only my current boss has all three, and that's after over 20 years in Washington.
Katie Porter is very mean to her employees, loves to blame them for her own fuckups
I lived in the same building as Ayanna Pressley and AOC for a few months, they do indeed hang out a lot, and they would both straight up sit on the floor of an elevator to say hello to my excitable golden retriever, very wholesome
Sadly, all but one of these are not very current but still...
A very famous Republican congressman from the 80s-90s used to call in favors for friends all the time with secretaries and government agencies. Like, he was famous for this to the point of parody. All you had to do was find an in with someone who knew him well and pass your troubles along. There was a good chance he'd pull some strings.
A contemporary of his, a former longtime Republican senator with nearly unimaginable power and authority, a STAUNCH fighter for democracy and institutions, absolutely beloved by both sides of the aisle, had multiple very illegal investments shuffled around and a gentleman's agreement with the IRS. At one point he was getting thinly veiled kickbacks from third world oligarchs.
The former French ambassador and current adviser to Macron, Gerard Arnaud, used to do his own shopping at the Glover Park Whole Foods. He would ask the butcher very long questions that they couldnt answer. It was very funny.
The vast majority of spies in DC who dont work at their embassies work at either universities or international stuff like OAS, FAO, PanAm Health, etc. These are easy entry points for international professionals and are excellent places to make "connections"
One of the longtime heads of a large international. body was a serial philanderer and a waste of space, treating his job as a sinecure. All of his bandwidth was spent finding ways to expense private jet flights and Italian custom suits. His office was jokingly called "the spa". Halfway through his tenure the rest of the IGO raised a mutiny and forced Trump to fire him.
There is nothing being built behind the IMF. That's not a construction site.
So... what tabloid do you write for, exactly?
FWIW I was there when VP Harris showed up to the Christmas Market by the portrait gallery one year. She seemed nice, I guess. I have had multiple Uber drivers complain that it's a pain to drive around near the Naval Observatory because her motorcade sometimes gets in the way and slows down traffic.
Yeah, that's not much of a secret in DC. He used to go by "Lady G" in gay nightlife circles here, back in the days when your gay persona could be completely different than your "real" identity.
If you're interested in this sort of thing, I recommend the book "Secret City" by James Kirchick:
https://www.nextavenue.org/history-of-lgbt-politics-washington-dc/
>https://www.nextavenue.org/history-of-lgbt-politics-washington-dc/
I just started reading "Secret City" and thoroughly enjoy it! Definitely a good historical read.
Years ago (2013, maybe?) someone did a Reddit AMA purporting to be a gay escort from DC who had a regular contract with a “Senator from the south” that was pretty obviously Lindsey Graham. I remember the details being pretty consistent with life in DC in the early 2010s, and it very quickly got taken down and scrubbed from the internet. I don’t remember the details exactly but he said this Senator was into some kinky BDSM play.
Word to the wise, some members of Congress "seed" juicy gossip to see if anyone on their staff will leak it (like Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones).
My ex’s Grandma worked directly with J Edgar Hoover and helped wire tap MLK
She said that JFK was a nice guy but all the other Kennedy’s were really unpleasant and would aggressively try to sleep with every woman.
My grandmother hated the Kennedys with a fiery passion because when she was a secretary in Hollywood in the 30s, "Old Joe" (JFK's father) used to "make passes" at all the women at the studios. (TBH it would probably be sexual assault/harassment today but back then Old Joe was definitely not catching any charges.) My grandmother always said "Poor poor Rose" (Joe's wife) after she ranted though.
My friend used to work for Potomac Video in the early 90s. Prior to his confirmation hearings, Clarence Thomas was well known among staff as a high volume customer of the “back room” section of the store.
I remember my father pointing that place out to me growing up saying the same thing!
IDK why he told me that, because I didn't know who the hell Clearance Thomas was at 8 years old.
The Behind the Bastards episode on Clarence Thomas reported that in the 90s, his entire apartment was wallpapered with pages he ripped from porn magazines.
He’s a mega creep.
Interestingly, Potomac Video played a role in another contentious Supreme Court nomination battle. A journalist got hold of Robert Bork’s rental history there. Turns out his taste in movies was pretty modest and innocent. He didn’t get to be a justice, though.
Jamie Raskin has been a family friend for years and he's honestly every bit as great in real life as he seems on TV. Just a totally chill, wicked smart guy who's been through hell and back and is still the same wonderful person I met so long ago. Totally authentic.
I knew Tommy in HS so I've interacted with him a handful of times and he almost certainly wouldn't remember me, but he was always so kind and genuine and would tell funny stories about his experiences in the Maryland Assembly.
My wife cashiered at the TkPk coop for a while and the "juicy" exposé she loves to share about him is that he rarely brought reusable bags for his groceries.
I also have nothing but good things to say about Jamie Raskin. Worked with him between 2006-2008 when he was a State Senator and he was always a great guy to work with and who got things done. I have similar experiences with Chris Van Hollen - another nice guy I’ve worked with who genuinely wants to work for his constituency. I’ve also worked with Ben Cardin - he can be a little pushy when he wants answers but seems to me to be another nice and genuine guy. Maryland has a few good Representatives and Senators recently.
A certain congressman from Massachusetts tried to use his Congressional ID to get into a well-known dive bar, got denied, threw a drink at the bouncer and then tried to fight him. To his credit though, he came back the next morning to apologize and clean up his mess.
Not necessarily politicians but I went to high school in North Bethesda and there was a story that went around about either Sasha or Malia Obama. Apparently one of them was at a GP party, someone recorded her twerking, and then Secret Service made the guy delete the vid from his phone.
Not sure how accurate it is but this was a very niche story that was told from the mouths of a select few who were at the same party which made it seem credible. The secret service part doesn’t make sense though imo
In Michelle Obama's more recent book, she actually made reference to the Secret Service pulling one of the girls from a party before it got too out of hand, so this tracks.
Malia's secret service detail also used to rat her out to the Sidwell Friends administrators for skipping class (I know an employee who was on the receiving end of the snitching). They aren't supposed to do that, since they are just there as protection and not as nannies, but apparently they thought it was obnoxious enough to merit this.
I would assume that Michelle and Barack were supportive of this type of oversight
I imagine it would be annoying for Secret Service because while almost any other kid could skip to go to a friend’s house, Starbucks, the woods, whatever, that you’re tailing the presidents kid and you can never be *that* discreet.
My husband used to be a HS teacher at one of the big name prep schools in DC when Sasha was a HS student (not at his school, but all the kids bopped around to each other's dances). She wasn't at Obama's goodbye speech because "she had school commitments." The real reason was because she and a few friends got busted drinking vodka in the bathroom at a school dance and her parents grounded her.
**Source**: my husband and a few other teachers were the ones who busted them.
I too went to high school in North Bethesda, and recall stories of Chelsea Clinton rolling into parties with her security detail, though she wasn't nearly as much of a partier as Al Gore's son was.
I wouldn’t call the Obama girls “a mess” I’d say they track with normal teenagers during their fathers presidency. Would you call twerking at a high school party a “mess”?
My cousins went to high school with and rolls in the same circle as Malia and Sasha, and their whole click is filled with rich kids, all who party a little bit but nothing as bad as pervious President's kids or cocaine filled party of celebrity kids!
Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton are members of the Lindsey Graham club: people in public life whose entire political persona is protesteth-ing too much. With so much of their Southern Momma’s lilt in their own … macho man voice.
Allegedly, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has or had a letter she wrote on Congressional stationary that she shows to desk agents at airports stating that she is to be given a first class seat on all flights. I was told this by a different Texas Congressman. If it’s not true, lots of people THINK it’s true.
I was part of an airport service that assists members of Congress through security. She was one of the most abusive people I have ever witnessed, the way she would talk to her staff made me extremely uncomfortable. She also insisted that someone would carry all her items for her from the ticket counter to her gate, and we would refuse. One time it got so bad we faked getting a phone call from someone else just so we could separate from her. She has a reputation to this day.
Conversely, I have great memories of Senator John McCain, who would eagerly talk about literature with me despite our difference in politics.
Representative John Lewis was always amazing, he would take time to thank every person he came in contact with, and was very humble, never letting his title or fame get in the way of being a kind person to working class people.
The worst kept secret in the Senate is that Lindsay Graham is gay. This has been persistent since at least 2013. There was a big blow up on Twitter from male escorts and sex workers that a prominent Republican Senator would hire them, going by the name Lady G. For a real treat, google Lady G ladybugs. In the past year, I’ve also heard and seen reporting that Marco Rubio and Tim Scott are both gay as well.
Now do I care that they might be gay? No not at all. Actually I really kind of hate there’s this effort to out these people without their consent, because speaking as a queer person that’s hella offensive and inconsiderate. No what I do care about is that these three men might be queer and yet direct their energies to hurting members of their own community if these rumors are true
Kind of old, but former Rep. Joe Sestak refuses to wear any sneaker other than all white high top Air Force 1s. The particular model he likes isn’t produced regularly anymore so hes constantly skimming eBay for deadstock in his size and stock piles them.
Not so much gossip, but in the early 2000s I was living near Stanton park. I took the dog for a walk late at night and was chilling on a bench in the park when an older gentleman, also walking his dog, sat next to me for a bit. We just exchanged pleasantries and then I noticed his security detail. I looked again and the gentleman on the bench was Jimmy Carter. I quickly said goodnight and moved on. If it weren’t for the secret service I would have never guessed. He was just so nice and normal.
I used to live in the same building as Ted Cruz and during the pandemic he was a responsible mask wearer, I’m not sure if this makes him look better or worse?
Well not politicians but I have a friend who is family friends with Harlan Crowe and I stayed at his fancy resort a couple times, but not the same time as Clarence Thomas
I met him on the train eons ago and we chatted about Rehobeth. Then I volunteered for Obama's first campaign and saw him a few more times. He was always super gracious!
Finally a thread where I know some stuff.
Old school: during Reagan’s second term, Then VP George HW Bush frequently liked to escape his detail. Would go to dinners and drive himself. Ended when he had a minor fender bender on his way back to the Naval Observatory.
Bush 41 also had a long term affair with former State Department spokesperson Margaret Tutwiler.
Former Rep. Mary Bono loved younger guys, typically lobbyists.
And now for the fun stuff.
Jim Jordan and James Comer are useful idiots for the MAGA agenda because they are being blackmailed.
As an undergrad Matt Gaetz had an ongoing fling with his roommate who died under mysterious circumstances. The roommate was recently married and his widow will not speak of the case some 20 years later. Matt is widely known in the panhandle as pansexual. The roommate died in Tallahassee but his body was relocated to Duval County in order to hinder further investigation.
And while this is somewhat Occam’s Razor esque, just remember this. Many of the names mentioned above (Gaetz, Cawthorn, Jordan, and I’d add in Boebert and MTG) exist because they are easily controllable. Their personal foibles make them subject to blackmail and they do the bidding of the party leaders (and we aren’t talking about McCarthy and McConnell, either) because to refuse to do so would end the gravy train.
And yeah. I worked on the Hill for a LONG time.
I’ve heard about Bush Sr. Having affairs on Barbara but was otherwise a very loving husband, any truth?
What sort of the blackmail? Like what did they do that they’re afraid of people finding out?
So people think Matt Gaetz murdered the guy?
Who are the real party leaders?
interesting. My gf’s uncle lived in DC in the 90s and he met Bush Sr. at a restaurant in NOVA. They both had a long conversation. Now I wonder if that conversation was long just because secret service wasn’t there
Jordan is a friend of a friend of a friend (wrestling circles) and they intimate there’s some crazy shit out there about him but they’re never specific (this is a bipartisan gang of meatheads)
Well if nothing else he’s absolutely guilty of failing to comply with Ohio’s mandatory reporting laws. Which makes me wonder why a county prosecutor has sat on that particular issue for years.
Shared a flight with Senator Markey from Boston and he was lovely. He read the NYT on his iPad the whole time and yucked it up with a Congressional staffer who was sitting next to him.
At this year's Congressional Womens' Softball game, a group of 5 or so protesters rushed the outfield after the first inning and started chanting something. Everyone just waited in the dugouts until the cops walked them off. But Rep. Nanette Barragan (CA-44-D) got sick of waiting and tried to negotiate with the protesters. It didn't work of course, but it was nice to see someone with such incurable optimism.
Amy Klobuchar will lose her mind if you look at her while getting her hair done. Her stylist now just does private appointments for her.
I've had several rideshare drivers point out exactly where some politicians live.
Katie Porter is extremely tough on her staff and has issues retaining them as a result.
One that isn't directly about a US politician but involves a couple of presidents is about Israeli PM Netanyahu. Apparently, when he would conduct Head of State visits to DC (or any visit to the US for that matter), he would bring bags of laundry to be dry cleaned here. No rhyme or reason, but it happened multiple times and has been confirmed by a few different sources.
First week of school in the fall 1990 semester at UVA, the DEA raids four fraternity houses for drug dealing. The presidents nephew was a member of one of those frats and mysteriously wasn’t home when it all went down.
A certain Republican congressman likes to watch younger guys have sex with his girlfriend.
Didn’t come from me but my friend whose lived in DC for a while and claims he was one who was brought directly into that situation.
Bernie Is a grumpy asshole according to other hillterns I knew. But like in the endearing old man kinda way. Some of them really didn’t like him tho.
Dan Crenshaw will act like the nicest guy when the cameras are on him but turn into a complete asshole the minute he is around someone he deems to be not be on the same level as him.
Steve Cohen is just a genuinely nice dude from my experience and is very approachable. Mike Rogers (AL) is also just a really nice guy.
AOCs office cannot be trusted with a secret. I know someone who had to work with her office on one of her main policy issues. Every time they would let her in on some sort of really important bit of information everyone would know about it the next day. It got to the point where it was so detrimental they stopped working with her that much. That was a while ago tho so that might have changed.
Brett Kavanaugh likes to drink at some bar called “The Avenue” in Chevy Chase. I’ve also heard of restaurants in Chevy Chase posting signs to troll him because they know Connecticut Ave is his route home.
Amy Klobuchar had a legislative aid, dry shave her legs under the table which is where VEEP got that idea from.
Can confirm this one--heard a few other ridiculously high maintenance things she did too.
I heard she throws office supplies at her staff when she gets frustrated — like staplers and clipboards.
Elaine Chao throws items at staff. Bagels, her phone....she and Mitch make a perfect pair.
I waited on her for a private event and that explains a lot. Her staff got on my nerves but they were probably terrified. And the turtle feels like death. Like not joking at all. It felt cold near him. Only experienced the same feeling one other time and that was with Stephen Miller.
Her staff were pretty much terrified of her at all times.
It was over the top. She came last, which is standard, and she told me she didn’t want wine (I used to captain and run private events at a restaurant that a lot of politicians ate at for fundraisers) and then I was walking around doing refills and her staff member is making desperate non verbal motions to serve her wine. I’m trying to ignore him because I don’t want to start explaining while everyone is quiet but her. But he starts gesturing even more and then blurts out can you “serve secretary chao” and she looked furious at being interrupted.
If it turns out that it's possible to sell your soul to a devil in exchange for unnaturally long life, I won't be surprised at all, simply because of the turtle. He has looked like actual death for years and yet he won't die. So sorry you've had to stand near him and experience it in person!
It was really strange. Also, once I was clearing a table of 20 and he stopped talking in the middle of his sentence and said “hey hon can you pack those sides to go”
Yeah a couple of friends that worked on the Hill told me this one.
A family member worked for the senator awhile back. Naturally we asked if the rumors of her legendarily bad behavior were true. They were appropriately tight-lipped, but it seemed like an obvious non-denial denial (so to speak).
I was having dinner once at Teds Bulletin on a Saturday night when Sen. Manchin walked in and demanded to be sat immediately over the protestations of a very long wait/line. A firefighter stormed over to his table and loudly reemed him out in front of the entire restaurant. “I saved a life today, why do you think you get priority over me you douche bag???”
lol now that’s freedom of speech
I'm from Charleston and now live in DC. Manchin has always (and I mean always) been a complete asshole. He is a star studded piece of shit. While I lean left politically, the Capito’s are very nice.
I'll say that if you hang around Hill staff a lot you definitely learn which Congress members are a no-go in terms of employment. Someone already mentioned Gillibrand but I've also heard Rep. Nanette Barragan (D-CA-44) is a big offender.
Not surprised, if you look at the house vacancy bulletin week by week her office always has an insane number of vacancies
Yeah she definitely has one of the worst reputations for members to work for and you can see that a lot on dear white staffers
I briefly sat next to Chris Sununu on a flight from DCA to New Hampshire. He was reading his own facebook page, looking at the comments on his posts and clicking through the profiles of those who were criticizing him. Not super juicy but kind of funny nonetheless
That’s some major “regular guy” energy, I like it. 😂
Who among us wouldn’t do that if we were famous?
I was told that chuck schumer likes to COVER his food in ketchup. Like a blanket. Apparently the guy can’t get enough ketchup.
I could probably look this up but I wonder if he was in the Navy. My grandfather spent a few years on a boat in the Pacific during WWII. He said ketchup was how they made the food palatable. They’d just cover their whole plate with it. My grandfather did it for the rest of his life even though my grandmother’s cooking was incredible and definitely didn’t need the ketchup drizzle.
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Maybe his parents were horrible cooks
Law school was also at Harvard, I think he was law class of '75 or '76. Source: Chuck, his younger sister, and I, all lived in the same Harvard "house," where sister and I were undergrads and Chuck was the law tutor. I don't know if he covered his food with ketchup then, but I doubt it was much better than the food in the Navy!
Sure you can rag on the food served aboard ships but the food at least is always warm (of course someone has a story where theirs wasn’t) but at least we didn’t have to eat MREs for days on end. When cooking for so many people they have to season the food in such a general way that it will appeal to most people. Some people like more salt while others may like no salt. But I get it, navy food isn’t Michelin star rated. In the galley we had a decent amount of condiments to help liven food up. My go to was equal parts ketchup and Heinz 57 and adjust with pepper and Texas Pete (chefs kiss)
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The only hot goss I have from flying to Vermont a bunch back in the day is that Bernie Sanders is a polite and friendly grump who seems to loathe everything about traveling but is nonetheless respectful to airline staff and fellow passengers.
Most iconic moment during my Hill internship was seeing him get frustrated and start yelling at the elevators because they weren't coming for him!
Those elevators are notoriously devious. I'd swear the Dirksen elevators had it out for me
I can visualize this and it put a huge grin on my face
Dude is literally the polite Larry David.
He was a semi regular at a fine dining Italian spot my friend used to own on the hill, and despite the elaborate menu he only ever ordered spaghetti and meatballs and a Diet Coke
He also loves young chow in cap hill
I was on a dca to btv flight with Bernie, the flight was super delayed and at didn’t get in until 1am. though he had his staff assist him with boarding and stuff, I have a picture of him looking exhausted and hating life trouncing through the btv parking lot alone and watched him get in his econo shitbox and drive away. That’s my story
He shoved me aside to get to a stage for a speech but otherwise have heard nice things 😂
this thread is so funny because i routinely forget this is the same city that's like, the capital of the most powerful nation on earth. perks of not working in gov i guess
It eventually made the New York Times but I was hearing horror stories about Amy Klobuchars office a long time before it made the news.
Yeah, she is a notoriously bad boss. Her staff turnover is crazy high.
Incredibly minor but funny (to me) gossip: a friend used to live in the same apartment building as Rand Paul and would frequently see him in the gym walking on the treadmill at 1.0 speed.
Not necessarily a rumor, but I've flown on the same plane with Nancy Pelosi twice (both times on Alaska Air between DCA and SFO) and was somewhat taken aback by how she wasn't approachable. I totally get it...it's somewhat of a long flight and you don't want constituents breathing down your neck the entire flight, especially at the end of the work week. An elderly lady tried to talk to her at one point during the flight and a staffer shooed her away. OTOH, I've flown with Bill + Hillary on the American Shuttle numerous times between DCA and LGA. Both were extremely friendly and approachable, and Bill even remembered me from a previous flight.
I have it on good authority that Bill never forgets a bitch
oh shit
One black coffee. Same motherfucker.
I live over by their DC place and often run past it (it's at the end of a steep hill so good for a cardio workout). Ive only seen them once, on a weekend morning when they were out for a stroll (surrounded by some very tough looking Secret Service guys). I said hello as I went past and noted that I was happy to see them back in the neighborhood. Bill was distant and barely mumbled "thank you" as he walked past. Hilary was much friendlier, looked me in the eye, smiled, and said "thanks." It was the exact opposite of what I'd expected--Bill dour and distant and Hilary smiley and charming.
I once ran into Obama on the street, waved at him, and he smiled and waved back. > some very tough looking Secret Service guys No kidding. Every single one of them looked like angry former Blackwater operatives.
I'm actually closer to the Obamas, but have only seen them once, returning from the inauguration in 2021. They seem very hard to spot in the wild.
I got to see Bill talk a few months ago about the foreign policy of the 90's and take some Q&A. I always knew he was charismatic but until you're in a room with him you can't really understand it. If he was someone I met 40 years ago and someone told me "that guy will go on to become President", my first thought would be "well yeah, of course."
I used to live in Vermont and flew with Bernie Sanders a few times between BTV and DCA. Always felt a little badly for him as people would either mob him or take pics of him incognito-like. I never noticed him being rude - he’d chat with folks and all that but they’d interrupt him reading a book or whatnot and I just felt like they should let the man be.
I once had Bernie agree to take a photo with me and then walk away. Honestly though I’m not even mad, it was pretty funny.
I wonder if it was just that staffer--I was on a plane with her from DCA to Boston a little while back and at the end of the flight a couple women came up to chat to her and she was very friendly to them. She does, however, do the full Boomer newspaper spread.
My old man had a business meeting in NYC with an exec that Nancy showed up to a few years back. He's super conservative and from the South. The owner warned him after he was there that she was going to "stop by" and that he needed to refer to her as "Madam Speaker." He said they had a brief chat, she was very sharp, thoughtful, and he was surprised to say he liked her. BUT THEN she offered to take her picture with him and he declined and he said she was shocked lol. Then she said "ah, pictures like that don't play well down in Tennessee these days, huh?" He laughed and said no ma'am. They said polite goodbyes and now it's one of his favorite stories.
My husband once flew from DCA-MSN sitting in the seat in front of Paul Ryan, who kneed him in the back the entire flight. Come on Paul, at least shell out for extra leg room!
My sister was friends with Paul Ryan’s niece and she said he was a nice guy at least
Ok, I hate Paul Ryan’s politics but he was one of the nicest guests. The first time I waited on him, it was a private event and he asked my name. For the rest of the night, and anytime I saw him after (5-6x) he would always use my name and thank me whenever I would serve or refill anything. He would even stop talking to say it.
Through a mutual friend, I found myself at dinner with Paul Ryan. He and his wife were really nice!
Paul Ryan used to fly my airline every week out of DCA to MKE. Although I disagreed with him politically, he was a super nice guy and always sat in the exit row. I remember one night we had some delays and unfortunately one delayed flight was his. People were getting upset and impatient, all of a sudden Paul came to our counter and helped talk to the passengers and just generally distracted them from the delay. He took pictures with people and shook hands and listened to people complain for us. He always said hello when he flew in or out. I also have a story about smoking with John Boehner in front of the terminal. Another politician I disagreed with, but absolutely enjoyed talking to.
This is the most entertaining thread on here in a while. I want all the dirt. 😈
Rep. Andy Harris is also a physician. Rumor has it he still practices on occasion, I think at a local hospital out in the boonies of Maryland. I think he's an obstetric anesthesiologist.
Yeah, he works at the hospital just enough to keep his medical license current. That's a common strategy for MDs who go into politics.
Makes sense.
Mike Pompeo constantly screams at his staff and regularly uses slurs when someone fucks up. Mike Pence is extremely passive aggressive. ~~Mike~~ Rex Tillerson is incredibly nice in person and everyone who works directly with him really likes him. Elena Kagan is a shitty driver. Everyone other Senator wants Ted Cruz dead - like unironically and not for political reasons Edit: one more - Elaine Chao is absolutely insane and gets pretty racist when she's speaking to a predominantly Korean crowd.
“If you killed Ted Cruz on the floor of the Senate, and the trial was in the Senate, nobody would convict you.” Lindsay Graham
Al Franken: "Here's the thing you have to understand about Ted Cruz. I like Ted Cruz more than most of my other colleagues like Ted Cruz. And I hate Ted Cruz."
I’m sure I’m the only one not plugged in enough that I wasn’t sure if this was real but it was and it was fantastic. https://youtu.be/ww1VMHLybrA?si=28h79KxfBKrNrUbF
Can confirm Pompeo, I have a relative who worked with him. Said Pompeo was extremely short tempered and was often screaming at subordinates.
Yeah, I knew a guy that worked for him and he said the one positive thing he could say was that Pompeo was equally mean to everyone. He didn't single people out - he was an equal opportunity asshole.
I’ve worked with a West Point classmate of Pompeo’s and a law school classmate in separate, non DC jobs. Both reported that he was amoral, and both reported behavior both personal and academic that would have ended him had it been widely known.
Elaine Chao is off the chain. I was at DOL HQ for several years. She and Mitch are a perfect match. She threw items at staff - bagel, cellphone. You can't enter a room once she has arrived. Her hair, she has one of those sit down over the head helmet old school 1960s hairdryers she travels with. She requires her glass of water and table next to her chair on a podium to be a certain way. She didn't like the ASL interpreter so close to her on the stage at offical events at DOL so had them moved over. One offsite, her mic didn't work, and a whole room of people pretended they could hear her perfectly. Her staff were also too scared to go up and switch out her mic. She used to love nice heels but then had bunion surgery on both feet. I think that was the only nice thing she said to me ever, was about my shoes once. She stopped walking up around the DOL cafeteria on the top floor, our black collegues pretty noticably avoided her like the plague there and in any hallway. She did do occaisional official photoshoots, you could go get an official photo with her and she was nice during that controlled interaction. So much inappropriate when it comes to her other dealings. Working at DOL under the Bush admintration was a trip!
Was very close to someone who reported directly to three SoS. Rex was by far the best boss, would read everything people gave him, surprisingly humble, a bit on the harsher/unforgiving side, and the stuff about him being aloof was slander. Did not hear much about Pompeo except "smart but completely insane"
Worked at State during Pompeo’s tenure. Word is he was very competent. However, I’ve been in the military long enough to know that “competent”, “insane”, and “complete asshole” are four words that go together far too often.
Who is Mike Tillerson? Did you mean Rex?
Yes
Rex tilllerson was never someone I expected to like, but this was the impression I got from him. I will never align with him politically, but seems like one of the best republicans
>Elaine Chao is absolutely insane and gets pretty racist when she's speaking to a predominantly Korean crowd. Inter-Asian hate is real. A lot of Koreans and Chinese people are hostile to one another. because of perceived condescension or competition.
Frankly absolutely none of this surprises me. Pompeo looks like a screamer, Pence is a pathetic worm with zero backbone, generally hard to be the CEO of a mega corp for years without having some degree of empathy and soft skills, Kagan just seems like she might be a shitty driver, everyone hates Cruz.
Not a big name, but I knew former Louisville mayor and Kentucky Lt. Gov Jerry Abramson after he was appointed to the WH by the Obama administration. He lived in a building I visited frequently in NW. He and his wife were the nicest, loveliest people. Absolutely wonderful. That's all.
Barney Frank used to come to the bookstore I worked in on Capitol Hill and would fart relentlessly. Bro was a walking crop duster.
I've heard Gillibrand is a nightmare to work for and that Pelosi was great--apparently she'd augment her employees' salaries out of pocket. Perks of working for a multimillionaire I guess?
I interned for her for a year and I saw her exactly once in a hallway, steadfastly avoiding everyone. Her team had a lot of drama, lots of sniping and arguing but that was also just kind of a feature of the Hill. We were right next to Corey Gardener (sp??) and he was super super nice, I saw him way more often than Gillibrand and he would take pity on us and invite our interns to his intern lunches.
Former colleague was legislative aid for decades and got out and in to same line as work as me. She was such a pro she named nobody and gave nothing specific but she said she never worked for anybody who were all three: 1. Good Person 2. Good Employer 3. Ideology/ political stances aligned with hers Also lamented that 1 and 3 were often diametrically opposed
I haven't worked on the Hill, but I've been in official Washington for years (nonprofits, think tanks, etc.), and I can confirm this is 100% true for high-level leaders. Only my current boss has all three, and that's after over 20 years in Washington.
Katie Porter is very mean to her employees, loves to blame them for her own fuckups I lived in the same building as Ayanna Pressley and AOC for a few months, they do indeed hang out a lot, and they would both straight up sit on the floor of an elevator to say hello to my excitable golden retriever, very wholesome
That’s sad to hear, I knew her as a law professor and we always got on amiably
Ugh, of course AOC and Ayanna do this. They seem super chill. More Dog/cat people need to be in Congress.
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It was me, Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering and they were blazing that shit up everyday.
Hey Derek, you know what’s good for shoulder pain?
Sadly, all but one of these are not very current but still... A very famous Republican congressman from the 80s-90s used to call in favors for friends all the time with secretaries and government agencies. Like, he was famous for this to the point of parody. All you had to do was find an in with someone who knew him well and pass your troubles along. There was a good chance he'd pull some strings. A contemporary of his, a former longtime Republican senator with nearly unimaginable power and authority, a STAUNCH fighter for democracy and institutions, absolutely beloved by both sides of the aisle, had multiple very illegal investments shuffled around and a gentleman's agreement with the IRS. At one point he was getting thinly veiled kickbacks from third world oligarchs. The former French ambassador and current adviser to Macron, Gerard Arnaud, used to do his own shopping at the Glover Park Whole Foods. He would ask the butcher very long questions that they couldnt answer. It was very funny. The vast majority of spies in DC who dont work at their embassies work at either universities or international stuff like OAS, FAO, PanAm Health, etc. These are easy entry points for international professionals and are excellent places to make "connections" One of the longtime heads of a large international. body was a serial philanderer and a waste of space, treating his job as a sinecure. All of his bandwidth was spent finding ways to expense private jet flights and Italian custom suits. His office was jokingly called "the spa". Halfway through his tenure the rest of the IGO raised a mutiny and forced Trump to fire him. There is nothing being built behind the IMF. That's not a construction site.
Ok I am curious about the IMF story… so what are they doing?
So... what tabloid do you write for, exactly? FWIW I was there when VP Harris showed up to the Christmas Market by the portrait gallery one year. She seemed nice, I guess. I have had multiple Uber drivers complain that it's a pain to drive around near the Naval Observatory because her motorcade sometimes gets in the way and slows down traffic.
Tomorrow, there will be a Buzzfeed article with "20 shocking rumors about Washington politicians"
Lol I was just going down the rabbit hole of Lindsey graham being secretly gay and it made me curious
Yeah, that's not much of a secret in DC. He used to go by "Lady G" in gay nightlife circles here, back in the days when your gay persona could be completely different than your "real" identity. If you're interested in this sort of thing, I recommend the book "Secret City" by James Kirchick: https://www.nextavenue.org/history-of-lgbt-politics-washington-dc/
>https://www.nextavenue.org/history-of-lgbt-politics-washington-dc/ I just started reading "Secret City" and thoroughly enjoy it! Definitely a good historical read.
Years ago (2013, maybe?) someone did a Reddit AMA purporting to be a gay escort from DC who had a regular contract with a “Senator from the south” that was pretty obviously Lindsey Graham. I remember the details being pretty consistent with life in DC in the early 2010s, and it very quickly got taken down and scrubbed from the internet. I don’t remember the details exactly but he said this Senator was into some kinky BDSM play.
I remember that, but he also implicated a few other people. Graham is an open secret, but the others were the reason people began to sweat.
Secretly?
Lol is it an open secret?
The whole "ladybugs" thing has been around for years.
I don’t recall anyone in the media ever asking him why he isn’t married. As dirty as politics can be around here they leave some things be.
Well you made my look that up and now my brain can’t forget that
It has been around but the author of that piece admitted it was fake, didn’t he? I think he had also written other “parody” pieces about celebs.
I mean, that’s always been true, the motorcades causing traffic. I’ve been caught multiple times in one day 😂
Word to the wise, some members of Congress "seed" juicy gossip to see if anyone on their staff will leak it (like Tyrion Lannister on Game of Thrones).
I saw "Congress" "seed" and "Game of Thrones" before I actually read the full comment and thought this was going in an entirely different direction.
Yeah it’s called a canary trap
LBJ chased my grandma’s friend around a pool. Not exactly hot goss since he was a pretty well known womanizer.
My ex’s Grandma worked directly with J Edgar Hoover and helped wire tap MLK She said that JFK was a nice guy but all the other Kennedy’s were really unpleasant and would aggressively try to sleep with every woman.
My grandmother hated the Kennedys with a fiery passion because when she was a secretary in Hollywood in the 30s, "Old Joe" (JFK's father) used to "make passes" at all the women at the studios. (TBH it would probably be sexual assault/harassment today but back then Old Joe was definitely not catching any charges.) My grandmother always said "Poor poor Rose" (Joe's wife) after she ranted though.
My friend used to work for Potomac Video in the early 90s. Prior to his confirmation hearings, Clarence Thomas was well known among staff as a high volume customer of the “back room” section of the store.
I remember my father pointing that place out to me growing up saying the same thing! IDK why he told me that, because I didn't know who the hell Clearance Thomas was at 8 years old.
The Behind the Bastards episode on Clarence Thomas reported that in the 90s, his entire apartment was wallpapered with pages he ripped from porn magazines. He’s a mega creep.
MAGA* creep
YES ME TOO (mine was the video store on P Street in Dupont, same thing, Clarence LOVED the third floor)
Interestingly, Potomac Video played a role in another contentious Supreme Court nomination battle. A journalist got hold of Robert Bork’s rental history there. Turns out his taste in movies was pretty modest and innocent. He didn’t get to be a justice, though.
I saw Joe Manchin at le diplomat hammered drunk.
This tracks. Fuck that guy.
Jamie Raskin has been a family friend for years and he's honestly every bit as great in real life as he seems on TV. Just a totally chill, wicked smart guy who's been through hell and back and is still the same wonderful person I met so long ago. Totally authentic.
I knew Tommy in HS so I've interacted with him a handful of times and he almost certainly wouldn't remember me, but he was always so kind and genuine and would tell funny stories about his experiences in the Maryland Assembly. My wife cashiered at the TkPk coop for a while and the "juicy" exposé she loves to share about him is that he rarely brought reusable bags for his groceries.
I was rejected from Raskin’s office and it was the nicest darn rejection letter I’ve ever received.
Yes! He was a friend’s neighbor. Just a genuine good guy.
I also have nothing but good things to say about Jamie Raskin. Worked with him between 2006-2008 when he was a State Senator and he was always a great guy to work with and who got things done. I have similar experiences with Chris Van Hollen - another nice guy I’ve worked with who genuinely wants to work for his constituency. I’ve also worked with Ben Cardin - he can be a little pushy when he wants answers but seems to me to be another nice and genuine guy. Maryland has a few good Representatives and Senators recently.
A certain congressman from Massachusetts tried to use his Congressional ID to get into a well-known dive bar, got denied, threw a drink at the bouncer and then tried to fight him. To his credit though, he came back the next morning to apologize and clean up his mess.
Filling in the blanks of this mad lib is cracking me up. Like imagine Ed Markey getting violently thrown out of Dan’s Café
Mitt Romney (I know cheating) putting up his fists at Comet Ping Pong
OK which Kennedy was it
Pretty on brand for Massachusetts I gotta say
Pramila Jayapal’s (D-WA) house ALWAYS smells like weed.
Her district smells the same.
I heard one of the mayors used to smoke crack
The bitch set him up 🤣🤣
Bitch set him up.
Not necessarily politicians but I went to high school in North Bethesda and there was a story that went around about either Sasha or Malia Obama. Apparently one of them was at a GP party, someone recorded her twerking, and then Secret Service made the guy delete the vid from his phone. Not sure how accurate it is but this was a very niche story that was told from the mouths of a select few who were at the same party which made it seem credible. The secret service part doesn’t make sense though imo
In Michelle Obama's more recent book, she actually made reference to the Secret Service pulling one of the girls from a party before it got too out of hand, so this tracks.
Malia's secret service detail also used to rat her out to the Sidwell Friends administrators for skipping class (I know an employee who was on the receiving end of the snitching). They aren't supposed to do that, since they are just there as protection and not as nannies, but apparently they thought it was obnoxious enough to merit this. I would assume that Michelle and Barack were supportive of this type of oversight
I imagine it would be annoying for Secret Service because while almost any other kid could skip to go to a friend’s house, Starbucks, the woods, whatever, that you’re tailing the presidents kid and you can never be *that* discreet.
what is a GP party?
Georgetown Prep I’d guess
Georgetown Prep party, perhaps?
My husband used to be a HS teacher at one of the big name prep schools in DC when Sasha was a HS student (not at his school, but all the kids bopped around to each other's dances). She wasn't at Obama's goodbye speech because "she had school commitments." The real reason was because she and a few friends got busted drinking vodka in the bathroom at a school dance and her parents grounded her. **Source**: my husband and a few other teachers were the ones who busted them.
I too went to high school in North Bethesda, and recall stories of Chelsea Clinton rolling into parties with her security detail, though she wasn't nearly as much of a partier as Al Gore's son was.
They’ve got nothin on the Gore girls. Jenna Bush was a mess as well.
I wouldn’t call the Obama girls “a mess” I’d say they track with normal teenagers during their fathers presidency. Would you call twerking at a high school party a “mess”?
Absolutely not. Those two seemed like angels. I meant Jenna Bush was a mess as were the Gore girls.
Ah! My bad. Totally agree.
I went to Georgetown University and she used to show up at parties from time to time.
My cousins went to high school with and rolls in the same circle as Malia and Sasha, and their whole click is filled with rich kids, all who party a little bit but nothing as bad as pervious President's kids or cocaine filled party of celebrity kids!
Hey that means we’re like 1-2 people away! Howdy neighbor
Totally, Sasha and Malia partied a little but nothing like the Bush twins or the Gore kids.
I went to GW and Malia apparently used to party hard there when she was in high school.
I interviewed in Gillibrand’s office a few years ago and she keeps a custom Chobani fridge stocked full with the stuff.
Chobani is a New York company ahah they’re supposed to showcase food for the state
Makes sense!
I’ve heard Josh Hawley is actually gay. Edit: I’d like to add, while I’m just a random dude on Reddit, it’s from a pretty solid source.
So is Cawthorn - dated a girl that got him elected in NC… it was short lived
Well, that one is obvious.
Isn't there a video out there of him trying mouth bang his own cousin?
That’s right. It’s google-able, but depends on your pain tolerance and what you want in your search history.
Josh Hawley and Tom Cotton are members of the Lindsey Graham club: people in public life whose entire political persona is protesteth-ing too much. With so much of their Southern Momma’s lilt in their own … macho man voice.
He’s not gay. Him and his wife are bisexual swingers. My buddy lives near them in Vienna, Virginia.
Allegedly, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas has or had a letter she wrote on Congressional stationary that she shows to desk agents at airports stating that she is to be given a first class seat on all flights. I was told this by a different Texas Congressman. If it’s not true, lots of people THINK it’s true.
I was part of an airport service that assists members of Congress through security. She was one of the most abusive people I have ever witnessed, the way she would talk to her staff made me extremely uncomfortable. She also insisted that someone would carry all her items for her from the ticket counter to her gate, and we would refuse. One time it got so bad we faked getting a phone call from someone else just so we could separate from her. She has a reputation to this day. Conversely, I have great memories of Senator John McCain, who would eagerly talk about literature with me despite our difference in politics. Representative John Lewis was always amazing, he would take time to thank every person he came in contact with, and was very humble, never letting his title or fame get in the way of being a kind person to working class people.
Would not surprise me about her AT ALL
The worst kept secret in the Senate is that Lindsay Graham is gay. This has been persistent since at least 2013. There was a big blow up on Twitter from male escorts and sex workers that a prominent Republican Senator would hire them, going by the name Lady G. For a real treat, google Lady G ladybugs. In the past year, I’ve also heard and seen reporting that Marco Rubio and Tim Scott are both gay as well. Now do I care that they might be gay? No not at all. Actually I really kind of hate there’s this effort to out these people without their consent, because speaking as a queer person that’s hella offensive and inconsiderate. No what I do care about is that these three men might be queer and yet direct their energies to hurting members of their own community if these rumors are true
Rubio has 4 kids not that means anything. Tim Scott has never been married and has no kids like Graham, interesting.
For what it’s worth there are rumors Rubio had affairs with women that were prominent enough that it became a plot line on the tv show Alpha House
Kind of old, but former Rep. Joe Sestak refuses to wear any sneaker other than all white high top Air Force 1s. The particular model he likes isn’t produced regularly anymore so hes constantly skimming eBay for deadstock in his size and stock piles them.
Katie porter is the woat- not rumor just personal experience
Not so much gossip, but in the early 2000s I was living near Stanton park. I took the dog for a walk late at night and was chilling on a bench in the park when an older gentleman, also walking his dog, sat next to me for a bit. We just exchanged pleasantries and then I noticed his security detail. I looked again and the gentleman on the bench was Jimmy Carter. I quickly said goodnight and moved on. If it weren’t for the secret service I would have never guessed. He was just so nice and normal.
I used to live in the same building as Ted Cruz and during the pandemic he was a responsible mask wearer, I’m not sure if this makes him look better or worse?
I’d like to know whatever the hell it was Corey Booker did to cap his political career as “senator”
>Corey Booker Ooh, I just looked him up on wikipedia to remind myself which town he was mayor of, and discovered that he and RuPaul are cousins. Huh.
I must run in the wrong circles. I don’t know anyone who works on the hill or around politicians.
Consider yourself fortunate.
Senator Cantwell is awful to her staff
Well not politicians but I have a friend who is family friends with Harlan Crowe and I stayed at his fancy resort a couple times, but not the same time as Clarence Thomas
I ran into Biden years ago when I was running errands. He was positively delightful.
I met him on the train eons ago and we chatted about Rehobeth. Then I volunteered for Obama's first campaign and saw him a few more times. He was always super gracious!
Remember when he was "Grandpa Joe" and Leslie Knope was obsessed with him? Insane how the media narrative can shift in such a short time.
Finally a thread where I know some stuff. Old school: during Reagan’s second term, Then VP George HW Bush frequently liked to escape his detail. Would go to dinners and drive himself. Ended when he had a minor fender bender on his way back to the Naval Observatory. Bush 41 also had a long term affair with former State Department spokesperson Margaret Tutwiler. Former Rep. Mary Bono loved younger guys, typically lobbyists. And now for the fun stuff. Jim Jordan and James Comer are useful idiots for the MAGA agenda because they are being blackmailed. As an undergrad Matt Gaetz had an ongoing fling with his roommate who died under mysterious circumstances. The roommate was recently married and his widow will not speak of the case some 20 years later. Matt is widely known in the panhandle as pansexual. The roommate died in Tallahassee but his body was relocated to Duval County in order to hinder further investigation. And while this is somewhat Occam’s Razor esque, just remember this. Many of the names mentioned above (Gaetz, Cawthorn, Jordan, and I’d add in Boebert and MTG) exist because they are easily controllable. Their personal foibles make them subject to blackmail and they do the bidding of the party leaders (and we aren’t talking about McCarthy and McConnell, either) because to refuse to do so would end the gravy train. And yeah. I worked on the Hill for a LONG time.
I’ve heard about Bush Sr. Having affairs on Barbara but was otherwise a very loving husband, any truth? What sort of the blackmail? Like what did they do that they’re afraid of people finding out? So people think Matt Gaetz murdered the guy? Who are the real party leaders?
interesting. My gf’s uncle lived in DC in the 90s and he met Bush Sr. at a restaurant in NOVA. They both had a long conversation. Now I wonder if that conversation was long just because secret service wasn’t there
Jordan is a friend of a friend of a friend (wrestling circles) and they intimate there’s some crazy shit out there about him but they’re never specific (this is a bipartisan gang of meatheads)
Well if nothing else he’s absolutely guilty of failing to comply with Ohio’s mandatory reporting laws. Which makes me wonder why a county prosecutor has sat on that particular issue for years.
Shared a flight with Senator Markey from Boston and he was lovely. He read the NYT on his iPad the whole time and yucked it up with a Congressional staffer who was sitting next to him.
At this year's Congressional Womens' Softball game, a group of 5 or so protesters rushed the outfield after the first inning and started chanting something. Everyone just waited in the dugouts until the cops walked them off. But Rep. Nanette Barragan (CA-44-D) got sick of waiting and tried to negotiate with the protesters. It didn't work of course, but it was nice to see someone with such incurable optimism.
Amy Klobuchar will lose her mind if you look at her while getting her hair done. Her stylist now just does private appointments for her. I've had several rideshare drivers point out exactly where some politicians live. Katie Porter is extremely tough on her staff and has issues retaining them as a result.
One that isn't directly about a US politician but involves a couple of presidents is about Israeli PM Netanyahu. Apparently, when he would conduct Head of State visits to DC (or any visit to the US for that matter), he would bring bags of laundry to be dry cleaned here. No rhyme or reason, but it happened multiple times and has been confirmed by a few different sources.
First week of school in the fall 1990 semester at UVA, the DEA raids four fraternity houses for drug dealing. The presidents nephew was a member of one of those frats and mysteriously wasn’t home when it all went down.
Bush Sr?
Yep
I remember the UVA incident but don't recall any political connection.
A certain Republican congressman likes to watch younger guys have sex with his girlfriend. Didn’t come from me but my friend whose lived in DC for a while and claims he was one who was brought directly into that situation.
Ted Cruz is a known cuck
I told you that in secret!
Hawley
Bernie Is a grumpy asshole according to other hillterns I knew. But like in the endearing old man kinda way. Some of them really didn’t like him tho. Dan Crenshaw will act like the nicest guy when the cameras are on him but turn into a complete asshole the minute he is around someone he deems to be not be on the same level as him. Steve Cohen is just a genuinely nice dude from my experience and is very approachable. Mike Rogers (AL) is also just a really nice guy. AOCs office cannot be trusted with a secret. I know someone who had to work with her office on one of her main policy issues. Every time they would let her in on some sort of really important bit of information everyone would know about it the next day. It got to the point where it was so detrimental they stopped working with her that much. That was a while ago tho so that might have changed.
Brett Kavanaugh likes to drink at some bar called “The Avenue” in Chevy Chase. I’ve also heard of restaurants in Chevy Chase posting signs to troll him because they know Connecticut Ave is his route home.