A newly-revealed 37 page staffer guide that is allegedly given to staffers for Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, who recently defected from the Democratic Party to become an Independent, has raised a number of concerns among experts in the field of ethics who think she might be crossing a few lines when it comes to the tasks she’s demanding of her staff members.
A memo, which was obtained by The Daily Beast, is more or less a lengthy list of things they are to “do” and a whole lot they are to “not do” in order to ensure all of the demands made by the senator are met to her very precise specifications.
I guess you spell “diva” K-Y-R-S-T-E-N.
“The memo instructs staff to contact Sinema at the start of every week to ‘ask if she needs groceries’ and to respond to the proper staff notifying them that the tasks have been completed. The staff are reimbursed through CashApp,” the Daily Wire reported. “Staffers are instructed to set up maintenance repairs at a private apartment if internet service goes down and to make sure that they are on the property to let in repair workers.”
Ethics experts spoke with the publication, stating the memo could end up landing on the wrong side of Senate ethic rules, which say that “staff are compensated for the purpose of assisting senators in their official legislative and representational duties, and not for the purpose of performing personal or other nonofficial activities for themselves or on behalf of others.”
The memo states that Sinema is the kind of individual who is “protective of her personal time” due to the fact she has “time-consuming commitments outside of this job,” which mostly consists of her involvement in her hobbies and the job she has teaching courses at Arizona State University.
Well, now. Would hate to see her have to scale down the time the senator has available to spend on her hobbies and side hustle due to fulfilling her duty as a public servant. Geesh.
To be fair though, this seems very outrageous. Could this whole thing be fake? Maybe the left is working hard to try and get back at Sinema for leaving them with one less vote in the Senate, concocting this little manual of sorts to get her in trouble? I guess it’s not that far-fetched to suggest such a plot, especially when you look at the great lengths progressives are willing to go in order to destroy former President Donald Trump.
“Do not schedule anything, ever, outside of ‘regular’ work hours without first getting Kyrsten’s permission,” the document goes on to say. “She will very, very rarely agree to work outside the regular hours, so only ask if it’s a big deal.”
According to the Daily Wire, Sinema does not start her work day before 8 a.m. and refuses to work after 8 p.m., which the report made clear is very unusual for a U.S. Senator. Well, that is a bit of a crazy schedule, but there are a lot of responsibilities that come with occupying the position of a public servant.
“Much of what was released from the memo details the importance of Sinema’s fitness regimen and how that shapes what staffers should do, from not scheduling her for events on the weekends until at least 1 p.m. in the afternoon to making sure she eats at certain times throughout the day and that there is always water on hand,” the report continued.
One example of this is contained in the section concerning booking flights for the newly Independent senator, saying it’s the staff’s job to “make her as comfortable as possible on each flight.
“KS has Executive Platinum status on AMERICAN AIRLINES and sometimes receives an automatic upgrade to first class. Do not rely on this; in the event that she does not get upgraded, it is important that she have a seat she is comfortable with,” the memo read. “First choice: KS prefers an aisle seat as close to the front of the plane as possible, except that she DOES NOT want the bulkhead row. Those seats are smaller than regular seats and are crowded. She also doesn’t want the seat next to/directly in front of the bathroom on planes where there’s a bathroom in the middle of the plane. Look at the seat map for every flight you book, or ask the booking agent about the flight map if you’re reserving over the phone.”
Here’s more from the memo:
KS generally prefers to be closer to the front in a window seat, than further back in an aisle. It saves her time getting off the plane earlier.
Next choice: if you can’t get an aisle seat, get a window seat using the same guidelines as above. This shouldn’t happen often, since you’re booking most flights six weeks in advance.
Last resort: Do everything in your power not put her in a middle seat. If the circumstances are such that a middle seat is the ONLY option, make sure you email KS to let her know and also provide some information about other flights she might be able to take instead that have better seating options. Don’t book so late that middle seats are all that’s left.
Sinema’s office did release a short statement addressing the report, going on to say, “the alleged information—sourced from anonymous quotes and a purported document I can’t verify—is not in line with official guidance from Sen. Sinema’s office and does not represent official policies of Sen. Sinema’s office.”
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