Mollie Hemingway is promoting her new book, Alito: The Justice Who Reshaped the Supreme Court and Restored the Constitution.
But the biggest revelation in the book is how Justice Elena Kagan bullies her staff. Hemingway discovered Kagan and to a lesser extent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, have a reputation for being mean girl bosses.
Hemingway alleges that several of Kagan’s former clerks, along with others at the Court, have described her as “emotionally abusive,” “demanding, demoralizing, demeaning,” and “a hard a**.”’
‘Kagan’s clerks had fear in their eyes,’ Hemingway said someone who clerked for a different justice recounted to her.
Other former aides speculated that there is ‘something psychological going on there,’ Hemingway writes.
Other clerks compared Kagan to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, moving from ‘extremely kind to extremely angry,’ Hemingway claims.
Another former staffer said Kagan is ‘like Klobuchar’—a reference to Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar, who was the subject of a New York Times article about her alleged poor treatment of her staff.
Ah yes, Senator Klobuchar (horse whinnies).
That NYT story from 2019 said:
Most of those interviewed for this article—describing memories that span from shortly after her election in 2006 to the much more recent past—discussed their time with Ms. Klobuchar on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal from the senator. These concerns were not idle, they said. Saving potentially damaging emails from Ms. Klobuchar became something of a last-day ritual, the aides said, in case they ever needed evidence of her conduct for their own reputational protection.
She was known to throw office objects in frustration, including binders and phones, in the direction of aides, they said. Low-level employees were asked to perform duties they described as demeaning, like washing her dishes or other cleaning—a possible violation of Senate ethics rules, according to veterans of the chamber.
The story also said, “The senator feared sabotage from her own team: In an email, she once raised the prospect of an in-house mole.”
Maybe because that would explain why she announced her bid for president as a climate change candidate as snow was falling on her head.
Hillary Clinton was as kind to the White House staff as she is kind to the eyes. Bill Clinton accepted the devil’s offer of the presidency in exchange for taking Hillary off his hands.
Then there is Kamala Harris. As attorney general, she made people call her general. She hung up on aides mid-conversation when unsatisfied with answers. She unleashed profanity-laced degrading tirades. Later, as vice president, she failed so much and so often that Dan Quayle was the only person in America who smiled for the four years that Biden was president.
A Washington Post report quoted a former aide saying, “With Kamala you have to put up with a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism.” Another described her as the “common denominator” in staff turnover.
Then there is former Senator Kyrsten Sinema, whose reputation for being a lousy boss was as big as her chest.
Former interns and junior staff reported feeling constantly on edge, afraid to mess up in any way, and facing reprimands from senior aides for issues like mishandling angry constituent calls (often related to Sinema’s controversial policy positions, such as on the filibuster or minimum wage).
One staffer told The Daily Beast it was “probably the worst job I’ve had in my entire life” and “kind of ruined my aspirations in politics.”
Politicians are not alone in being mean. Consider Ellen DeGeneres who promoted herself as a queen of nice for 18 years as host of a talk show. Without the cameras on, she was not so nice.
In July 2020, BuzzFeed News published reports from current and former employees alleging a toxic work culture involving bullying, intimidation, racism, microaggressions, and fear-based management. Some accused top executive producers (not always Ellen directly) of fostering the environment, while others described the show as not living up to its public “be kind” image.
A month later, the show’s owner, WarnerMedia, got Ellen to send an apology to her staff. She wrote, “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness—no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect. Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry.”
She gave the liberal equivalent of an apology. She is disappointed “to learn that” somehow (“something changed”) that was not the case.
She added that she takes responsibility for what happens on her show (since her name is on it), expressed disappointment, and said she was committed to fixing the issues so it wouldn’t happen again. She also said she wanted everyone who works on the show to love working there.
When the show returned for its 18th season, Ellen addressed the allegations directly in her opening monologue. She said, “I learned that things happened here that never should have happened. I take that very seriously and I want to say I’m so sorry to the people who were affected. I take responsibility for what happens at my show.”
Again, it was not what she did but what she learned happened.
But for the biggest boss from Beelzebub, one need only look at Rosie O’Donnell who was the original Queen of Nice.
Drag Queen of Nice because behind the scenes, she was just posing as a nice person.
Her original syndicated The Rosie O’Donnell Show drew headlines in 2000 after a Hollywood Reporter investigation into toxic daytime TV cultures highlighted issues at the show, including verbal abuse, a bullying executive producer (Jim Paratore) who set a harsh tone by calling people “fucking idiots” in front of peers, and a climate where taking a sick day could risk being let go.
When her short-lived show on Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network ended in 2012, anonymous sources called the environment a “hell-hole,” citing O’Donnell’s “domineering perfectionism” leading to rows with staff and producers. Examples included her yelling uncontrollably at a publicist and humiliating the director in front of an audience over a camera angle, followed by firing the stage manager.
She moved on to The View. According to the book Ladies Who Punch, O’Donnell faced multiple HR complaints for abusive behavior. One director compared her to a “murderous dictator” who was “going to kill everybody and have it her way.” She and two other employees filed a joint HR complaint against her after repeated incidents.
That whole show needs a five-headed Get Along T-shirt.
I don’t want to bum readers out and suck the reason to live out of their bodies. Not all politicians and TV personalities toxic bosses. Indeed, most are liked by their staff.
The Daily Mail reported:
Justice Clarence Thomas, a conservative, Hemingway says, is among the most beloved by staff.
‘He knows everybody’s name. He doesn’t just know their name. He knows when they’re having a new grandchild or where they grew up. He really, really cares about people,’ Hemingway writes.
Turning to the subject of her book, Justice Alito, Hemingway said that he’s more reserved than people expect, but still ‘very kind to the staff and clerks at the Court.’
She writes that the 76-year-old has surprised ‘many’ with his ‘wit and sense of humor.’
‘His staff and clerks adore him so much. Most of the justices have pretty good relationships with staff and clerks,’ Hemingway added, underscoring that Kagan and Sotomayor, ‘those with reputations to the contrary, are the outliers.’
When you’ve been through the hell of a Senate confirmation hearing full of lies, you try to not make anyone else’s life miserable.
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This article first appeared on Don Surber’s Substack. Reprinted here with permission.
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