Hillary Clinton reportedly kept campaign aide accused of sexual harassment from being fired

Hillary Clinton chose to keep a senior adviser to her 2008 U.S. presidential campaign, Burns Strider, after she learned he had been accused of repeated sexual harassment, according to a new bombshell report published Friday by The New York Times.

During the 2008 campaign, a 30-year-old female subordinate accused Clinton’s faith advisor, Burns Strider, of harassing her. According to the Times, the unnamed woman, who is under a nondisclosure agreement from discussing internal dynamics within the campaign, “told a campaign official that … Strider had rubbed her shoulders inappropriately, kissed her on the forehead and sent her a string of suggestive emails.”

After Clinton was informed of the situation, Clinton went against the recommendation of her campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle and chose not to fire Strider. The unnamed employee was moved to a new role within the campaign, while Strider got his pay docked and underwent counseling.

“To ensure a safe working environment, the campaign had a process to address complaints of misconduct or harassment,” a Clinton legal spokesperson said in a statement to the Times. “When matters arose, they were reviewed in accordance with these policies, and appropriate action was taken. This complaint was no exception.”

After his work on the Clinton campaign, Strider was later hired by David Brock’s organization, Correct the Record, where he worked until he was allegedly fired for workplace harassment, according to the Times.

Strider has vexed several Clinton advisers for years. On the one hand, they understandably don’t want to see her blamed for the misconduct of men after years of such blame over her husband. On the other, the believed Strider should have been out https://t.co/2befpWOCTy?amp=1

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) January 26, 2018

One of the young women who thought she would be working to elect the first woman president was scared out of politics after this experience. https://t.co/30c2G3fBX8

— Amy Chozick (@amychozick) January 26, 2018

Everything about this is bad. That Hillary Clinton, women’s advocate, gave the sexual-harasser a slap on the hand, but kept him on campaign. That he went on to do it again to another woman at another workplace. That he was Hilary’s freaking FAITH advisor! https://t.co/caUQ5f3gPB

— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) January 26, 2018