Photograph by Flickr user Photo Phiend

Senator Lamar Alexander’s chief of staff, Ryan Loskarn, is being investigated by law enforcement agents concerning child pornography, Alexander’s office announced. Loskarn was placed on leave without pay after authorities showed up at his Hill East home on Wednesday morning.

“I am stunned, surprised and disappointed by what I have learned,” Alexander, a Tennessee Republican, said in a news release. According to the Huffington Post, the US Postal Service is the lead agency looking into Loskarn.

Loskarn became Alexander’s top aide in October 2011. Before that he worked for Representative Marsha Blackburn, another Tennessee Republican. He was named to Roll Call’s “Fabulous 50” congressional staffers noted for their “mastery, influence, spin and access.”

Alexander named his legislative director, David Cleary, as his new chief of staff. “The courts will judge Mr. Loskarn’s guilt or innocence, but under these circumstances, he cannot continue to fulfill his duties as chief of staff of this office,” Alexander said. “Therefore, as of today, I have removed him from the payroll.”

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