Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida) said he traveled from Florida to Washington on Saturday night to terminate Reed’s employment effective immediately | Getty Rubio fires chief of staff for improper relations with subordinates

Sen. Marco Rubio has fired his chief of staff after determining he violated office policies regarding proper relations between a supervisor and subordinates.

Rubio said in a statement that an investigation concluded his chief of staff Clint Reed engaged in behavior that "in my judgement amounted to threats to withhold employment benefits."


Rubio announced the decision to fire Reed just before midnight on Saturday. The Florida Republican said he became aware “for the first time” on Friday “of allegations of improper conduct by my Chief of Staff while under the employment of my office.”

Rubio said the allegations were reported directly to him and that he then immediately began an investigation with his general counsel.

“By early this afternoon, I had sufficient evidence to conclude that while employed by this office, my Chief of Staff had violated office policies regarding proper relations between a supervisor and their subordinates,” Rubio said.

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Rubio said he traveled from Florida to Washington on Saturday night to terminate Reed’s employment effective immediately. His office has also “taken steps to ensure that those impacted by this conduct have access to any services they may require now or in the future,” he said.

He said that his office was not disclosing any more details “pursuant to the wishes of those victimized by this conduct” and that his office will formally notify Congressional and Senate administrative offices on Monday.

Reed began working for Rubio on his presidential campaign, including his efforts ahead of the Iowa caucuses. Reed then ran Rubio’s 2016 Senate campaign when he left the presidential race and reversed a decision to run for re-election in 2016. He replaced Albert Martinez, a longtime Rubio adviser.

Jessica Fernandez, his longtime scheduler and current deputy chief of staff, will act as Rubio’s interim chief of staff.

Reed could not be reached and Rubio’s office, noting the need for confidentiality, said it would provide no further information about the case.

Seung Min Kim contributed to this report.