Report: Biden’s Top Science Advisor Resigns After Investigation Found He Humiliated, Degraded Subordinates
One staffer under Advisor Eric Lander: “Numerous women have been left in tears, traumatized, and feeling vulnerable and isolated.”
![](https://c1.legalinsurrection.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/Eric-Lander.jpg)
Biden tried to portray himself as the exact opposite of how the media portrayed Trump. He promised to fire anyone who disrespects others because of the supposed horrible treatment that happened in Trump’s White House:
“If you are ever working with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot. On the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.”
Oh, look. Biden broke another promise. It turns out he’s just like any other politician.
A White House investigation revealed that Biden’s top science advisor, Eric Lander, is not a nice guy. He rules the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OTSP) with an iron fist.
The Washington Post reported late Monday night that Lander quit.
NEW: Eric Lander has resigned. Here's his reisignation letter.
first reported by Wapo. pic.twitter.com/KVwGtuOQ0o
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) February 8, 2022
How convenient. Biden didn’t fire him right away as he promised. Therefore, Lander gets to quit and slip away in the quiet night as if nothing happened.
But a lot happened. I dissected Politico‘s report on the investigation before Lander quit.
Investigation Into Lander’s Gross Behavior
The OTSP staffers unveiled a whole lot of misogyny from Lander:
President Joe Biden’s top science adviser, Eric Lander, bullied and demeaned his subordinates and violated the White House’s workplace policy, an internal White House investigation recently concluded, according to interviews and an audio recording obtained by POLITICO.
The two-month investigation found “credible evidence” that Lander — a Cabinet member and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy [OTSP] who the White House touts as a key player in the pandemic response — was “bullying” toward his then-general counsel, Rachel Wallace, according to a recorded January briefing on the investigation’s findings.
Christian Peele, the White House’s deputy director of management and administration for personnel, said that the investigation also concluded that there was “credible evidence of disrespectful interactions with staff by Dr. Lander and OSTP leadership,” according to the roughly 20-minute briefing, which included a representative of the White House Counsel’s office.
Holy moly. The OTSP has about 140 employees. Fourteen current and former employees described how “Lander frequently bullied, cut off and dismissed subordinates.” Nine of those staffers mentioned, “Lander yelled and sometimes made people feel humiliated in front of their peers.”
Many of these people remained anonymous because they did not want to face retaliation from Lander.
Wallace is one of the few who went on record. She recounted how Lander demeaned her (emphasis mine):
Wallace, a career civil servant who has worked across the executive branch since the Clinton administration, including at the OSTP during both the Obama and Trump administrations, had registered a complaint to Peele last September against “Lander and other OSTP leadership,” according to the recording.
Wallace told POLITICO that Lander “retaliated against staff for speaking out and asking questions by calling them names, disparaging them, embarrassing them in front of their peers, laughing at them, shunning them, taking away their duties, and replacing them or driving them out of the agency. Numerous women have been left in tears, traumatized, and feeling vulnerable and isolated.”
In addition to his behavior toward subordinates, Wallace, who is now deputy counsel but retained her title as chief operating officer at OSTP, accused Lander of retaliating against her by demoting her. The White House investigation did not conclude her reassignment was “procedurally improper,” but that she had been excluded from “meetings, conversations and assignments, in violation of the safe and respectful workplace policy,” according to the briefing.
Wallace did not want to speak to Politico. She changed her mind because of Lander’s lousy apology.
Lander told the OSTP employees: “I am deeply sorry for my conduct. I especially want to apologize to those of you who I treated poorly or were present at the time. It’s my responsibility to set a respectful tone for our community. It’s clear that I have not lived up to this responsibility. I have spoken to colleagues within OSTP in a disrespectful or demeaning way.”
Wallace claimed the “apology did not come close to addressing the full extent of his egregious behavior.”
Wallace did not hold back: “He did so much more than speak to staff in a ‘disrespectful or demeaning way.’ Lander’s apology was not only disingenuous. It compounded the deep hurt and damage he has caused by ignoring these other acts of aggression, harassment and retaliation.”
The OSTP spokesperson stated the “investigation did not find credible evidence of gender-based discrimination.”
How is that possible? Wallace’s testimony alone shows Lander’s disdain for women. He bullies and talks down to both sexes, but six current and former OSTP staffers mentioned Lander “appears to take delight in trying to embarrass female colleagues in front of others.”
OSTP staff members are furious (emphasis mine):
“[Lander] has a bit of Jekyll and Hyde personality. If he’s in a meeting with external people, he’s positive and ebullient, even. It’s behind closed doors that he changes,” said one OSTP staffer. “There are a lot of brilliant people in this country. I completely reject the notion that his brilliance is so singular and critical to the nation that his behavior is excusable.”
“Mr. President, please protect the dignity and well-being of our staff by standing by your zero-tolerance policy,” said a second OSTP staffer, who said they believed Lander should be fired.
—
“The Joe Biden I voted for would never knowingly empower an aggressor like Lander who openly targets women by publicly humiliating, infantilizing and intimidating them into submission,” said the second OSTP staffer.
“But Lander seems to know he’s protected. The most terrifying part about him is the open and brazen way he conducts his abuse. After repeatedly insulting and humiliating me in front of colleagues, Lander acknowledged his inability to control himself, telling me ‘I hate that I do it,’” the staffer said.
“Everyone is afraid of him,” said a third OSTP staffer. “Lander yells — screams. He’ll ask the same thing over and over but getting louder and louder each time,” said the staffer, who has witnessed his behavior.
The White House’s Lackluster Response
The White House punished Lander. It doesn’t sound so bad:
As discipline, the White House required Lander to hold more collaborative meetings with subordinates, such as “brown bag sessions,” Peele said in the recorded briefing. It also mandated more trainings for all staff on the workplace policy. Peele said in the briefing there would be a check-in at the 30 to 45 day mark to see if the problematic behavior has ceased.
That sounds too easy for someone like Lander. Let’s see how Psaki addressed the investigation:
REPORTER: “Does the fact that Dr. Lander has a job still cheapen the President’s promise to fire anyone who treats colleagues with disrespect on the spot?”
PSAKI: “Well, again, I would just reiterate that the President takes his commitment to having a respectful work environment incredibly seriously, and it’s something that he conveys clearly to all of us on a regular basis.”
Asked Psaki what the WH’s message is to WH and federal employees who took Biden at his word that he’d fire people “on the spot. No ifs ands or buts” if they treated colleagues disrespectfully, given that Dr. Lander wasn’t fired after the investigation https://t.co/Ped4LTfhlw pic.twitter.com/vWMYYWBJg9
— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) February 7, 2022
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Comments
Sure is going to be fun to watch the house of cards fall
I’m gonna buy some more popcorn.
So this guy’s name is actually Eric S.Lander? And you’re surprised he humiliated and disgraced his people?
Arrogant bully. Sociopath. A well qualified Democrat leader.
But, it proves that Female Tears in the office are still the ultimate trump card.
Now THIS is where the Biden administration should have installed a trans female.
Someone who would have popped Lander in the nose when he got abusive.
you mean a girly man?
No, a big butch one, like Drag Queen Story Hour.
Not all that surprising. It was only a few weeks ago that Biden called a reporter a “dumb son of a bitch”.
He meant the guy was supposed to know the script, and Biden felt he couldn’t say publicly that inflation is good, more inflation is better. It was frustration.
Notice that Peter Doocy didn’t complain that he was “harmed” or “bullied”. But maybe he should have. We need to use these leftists’ tools against them.
This may be an over-broad deduction, but, notice how Democrats treat staff shabbily. like this clown Lander; Hillary Clinton using full-dress-uniform Marine privates and corporals to carry drink and orderve trays; Obama using a Marine as an umbrella holder.
I don’t recall Trump or his people doing this sort of thing, or either of the loathsome Bush presidents. Had they, the headlines and pictures would be on page one.
Don’t forget Biden says “Salute the marines” as he walks past them, rather than actually saluting them. Of course, I’m not sure how responsible he is for his current state.
He’s a sick man. I have thought of him in less than flattering terms for decades, but still take no great joy in how his handlers are using him.
Frau Doktor Jill should be ashamed of herself.
“Dr “Jill gets to fly a customized 747 (AF1) home to her beachfront mansion every weekend, appear on magazine covers and give speeches to sycophantic audiences.
They’re going to have to peel her fingers off the door jamb to get her out of the White House.
Follow the science. It’s hard because when it’s not lecturing your ass with demands that you trust its big words and vague concepts, it looks (and smells) a whole lot like politics.
The earth is flat.
The earth is flat. The sky is falling. We need electric cars or the glaciers will melt and we will all drown.
The fact that Dr. Lander had to resign instead of Biden firing him as he had promised when he took office shows just how weak Biden is. He couldn’t even pull the trigger on something that he promised to do. The Russians and Chinese are smiling at this.
Biden doesn’t know there is a problem if it’s not standing between him and the Ice Cream stand.
Biden doesn’t know his behind from a hole in the ground.
Good ol’ Circle Back Jen just repeats herself rather than honestly admit that Biden doesn’t keep promises. The whole admin is so consistently dishonest.
Never to be trusted on any of their statements on any topic.
lord–have dealt with a few clowns like this guy–usually a few quiet but sincere words in private from a couple of the MEN involved in the organization is sufficient to end or curtail the clown’s behaviour–kudos to the women involved for speaking up as there obviously weren’t any men available to help them and certainly not fjb
“The Joe Biden I voted for would never knowingly empower an aggressor like Lander who openly targets women by publicly humiliating, infantilizing and intimidating them into submission,” said the second OSTP staffer.”
Oh, the hell you say. Biden is EXACTLY the “Joe Biden you voted for.”. Who, y’know, swam nude in the White House swimming pool in front of female Secret Service agents and character-assassinated a qualified black female potential nominee to SCOTUS.
Puh-leeeze.
There isn’t a pool at the White House., It was filled in years ago
“Agents say that, whether at the vice president’s residence or at his home in Delaware, Biden has a habit of swimming in his pool nude,” Kessler writes in the book…”
I never believed the VP would get to use a White House pool in the first place.
How is this a problem? The agents are there to protect him, not force him to modify his lifestyle. If it was reported that agents were uncomfortable with someone’s homosexual lifestyle, the agents would be told to accept it and even praise it.
I am not saying Biden is great. But I do not care at all if he swims nude in his personal swimming pool.
Leftists have complete disdain for people, because they really hate people.
After living in an ultra liberal area for a number of years and seeing the difference between leftist managers and more right thinking managers, hands down, liberal managers are horrendous managers. A liberal coworker even commented that she wished she had a republican manager again. It makes sense though, leftists have an overgrown sense of entitlement and are self-centered, self-righteous, and have the complete lack of self-awareness or reflection. They get where they are at by complaining all the time about other people’s slightest missteps and bullying other people. They do this to cover up their absolute ignorance of the job they are supposed to be doing.
Did any men cry?
I dunno, but all the hankies are out of stock.
“Lander frequently bullied, cut off and dismissed subordinates.” Nine of those staffers mentioned, “Lander yelled and sometimes made people feel humiliated in front of their peers.”
Every man who has ever had a job: “…and?”
Lander’s clearly an ***hole, but he’s equally clearly an ***hole to everyone.
This is just more “strong independent women who are the equal of any man, except when it comes to putting up with things men put up with every day” bollocks.
Ladies, you can have equality, or you can have special privileges that you invoke by running to a powerful man every time someone says mean words to you. You can’t have both.
Hey! The Democrat Method is equity and intersectionality. Do not interfere with the free celebration of their faith, as long as it stays within the congregation.
As a woman I am ashamed of women
As a former Navy pilot, combat veteran and retired NASA astronaut,
Oh wait, I’m none of those things, I’m just channeling the first line of every single f-g response letter I have ever gotten from one of my two senators, super-villain gun-banner Mark Kelly.
Apparently, having been in the Navy, combat, and outer space gives one insight that not only touches specifically on each and every possible political issue, but also makes your position on them superior to anybody else’s, including your constituents.
“There are a lot of brilliant people in this country. I completely reject the notion that his brilliance is so singular and critical to the nation that his behavior is excusable.”
Back when we were the world’s leading country and winning the Cold War, brilliance was highly valued in scientists and you accepted the personality. Maybe he thought others were idiots because, relatively, they were idiots.
I wonder if this guy was insufficiently enthusiastic about the vax, global warming, etc. We’ll get someone new who supports “the science” rather than actual science.
Thinking more about this, I can really envision a situation where he routinely torpedoed stupid woke-science comments, coming from a position of actually understanding science and being bright. These complainers felt ridiculed because he was intellectually destroying their policy preferences, and so they saw an opportunity to paint him as mean.
If you’re wrong, a scientist should be mean enough to expose your wrong statement. That’s actual science.
Still, Biden specifically demanded courtesy over everything… including competence.
He chose the rules, we’re just holding him to them.
OK have fun. You can treat this as us-vs.-them, but it’s pointless because Biden won’t be gone until 2024, and if he is it’s even worse because we would get Harris.
I’m just treating every avoided catastrophe as a victory. I don’t have the emotional need to invite more trouble by swinging randomly in an arena controlled by my opponents.
Let me say I am glad for at least one of Biden’s lies during the campaign. He said that if there was ever a disagreement between him and the unelectable Kamala Harris, he would step aside and let Kamala slip into the presidency.
This was a lie. They disagreed, and Biden firmly put her out to pasture. And I am glad of it. No matter how bad Biden is, Kamala would be taking Obama’s orders and would be far worse.
As opposed to what… what we have now?
The kissass press is going nuts trying to pretend that the current emperor has clothes, when everybody in the nation (and outside it as well) can plainly see that he doesn’t.
Compared to Joe, Kamala is a damn hologram. She’s not even there. MSM would be working double-secret overtime just to keep their own doors open.
Yes, Biden is better (can be read as less-bad) than Harris.
Well, with a name like Eric SLander, this had to be expected on some level.