The Lander blast radius

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After we reported Monday that White House officials had investigated ERIC LANDER, the president’s top science adviser, over allegations of abusive behavior to subordinates, senior and mid-level staff in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) were left grasping for a response.

At a meeting led by the OSTP’s chief of staff that morning — a recording of which was obtained by West Wing Playbook — officials expressed varied reactions to the news, as well as anguish about how to improve morale within the office.

Some felt that an apology email Lander had sent on Friday night — which came in anticipation of that initial POLITICO story — was a positive first step that spoke to his character, despite OSTP’s deputy counsel RACHEL WALLACE having told POLITICO that she thought the apology “compounded the deep hurt and damage he has caused by ignoring these other acts of aggression, harassment and retaliation.”

“Having done a lot of cultural investigations around racial discrimination, or gender discrimination, like, I’ve never seen an email that’s so raw and emotional and sort of, like, hits the nail on the head,” said one official on the call. “So I think that’s to be commended. I think that’s Eric, at his essence, like, very open, honest, engaging and kind of, like, willing to call a spade a spade.”

A second official suggested that while the office culture needed improvement, it wasn’t all that different from the world of academia.

But a third official argued that “most people are looking to see not words from Eric, they want to see behavior change” adding that his conduct had hurt the entire office culture. “What would be extremely helpful is knowing what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I don’t know what that means from an OSTP perspective anymore,” the official said.

The meeting provided an intimate look at how the administration struggled to live up to President JOE BIDEN’s own pledge to fire anyone who showed disrespect for their colleagues on the spot. Weeks prior, an internal investigation had found “credible evidence” that Lander — OSTP’s director and a member of the president’s Cabinet whom the White House had touted as a key player in the pandemic response — had bullied and demeaned subordinates. The revelations were exceedingly difficult to “square” with that Biden pledge, the OSTP officials noted.

“How does the president square this? That’s not an answer I can give,” chief of staff MARC AIDINOFF said during the meeting. “It’s an answer that I would presume JEN PSAKI will have to give later today.” Psaki and the White House originally stood by Lander while condemning his behavior, insisting that the investigative and disciplinary processes put in place to handle the Lander situation satisfied the president’s pledge. But late last night, the White House accepted Lander’s resignation. He is scheduled to depart on Feb. 18.

The OSTP senior staff meeting also shed light on the anxiety the office felt in anticipation of the Lander investigation becoming public. The third official noted that: “I know a lot of people anticipated this article to drop today and spent the weekend stressed out about it. I know a lot of people just wanted to take today off because they already feel exhausted. And it’s like nine o’clock.”

A fourth official noted that, “I got emails over the weekend about people who are getting reached out to and want to know what to say, and I didn’t even know what to say to them.”

Aidinoff kicked off the meeting by acknowledging his own struggles over what to say. “There were some things in the article that were surprises to me, and some that, you know, weren’t,” he said.

Near the end of the meeting, he did make a plea to his staff for solidarity “One of our first orders of business is protecting the president,” he said.

TEXT US — Did we miss something about Lander’s resignation? Send us an email or text and we will try to include your thoughts in the next day’s edition. Can be anonymous, on background, etc. Email us at [email protected] or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427.

WHAT YOU TEXTED: In response to yesterday’s top about the White House limiting the number of “open press” events that Biden does, one Democratic operative texted:

“The other drawback of doing so many pooled/select press events on the road is that it severely dampens press coverage. Like, you are sending the President or Vice President to another state to tout the work of the Administration…and you don’t try to maximize the comms mileage? I have told WH Advance and Comms so many times to scout venues that are large so that they can be structured as fully open press.”

Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you MARC AIDINOFF, the chief of staff at OSTP? Email/text us! Please?

POTUS PUZZLER

From the University of Virginia’s Miller Center

Which president was the first to deliver a State of the Union Address in a live nationwide broadcast?

(Answer at the bottom.)

The Oval

‘DEAR WHITE STAFFERS’ HITS THE WH — Dear White Staffers, the Instagram account roiling Capitol Hill with anonymous posts pointing fingers at bad bosses and toxic workplaces, may be spreading to the White House. We spotted two recent Instagram stories about the Domestic Policy Council and the digital team . Read KATHERINE TULLY-MCMANUS, NANCY VU, ELEANOR MUELLER and XIMENA BUSTILLO’s story the other week on the account.

SECOND GENTLEMAN SCARE: A bomb threat cut short second gentleman DOUG EMHOFF’s Black History Month event at Dunbar High School in northwest D.C. earlier today. Pooler AUSTIN LANDIS of Spectrum News sent this dispatch: “SGOTUS was ushered out of the room at 2:18 by a secret service agent. The agent said something like ‘We have to go.’ Dunbar’s principal followed a few minutes later.”

KATIE PETERS, Emhoff’s communications director, later tweeted: “U.S. Secret Service was made aware of a security threat at a school where the @SecondGentleman was meeting with students and faculty. Mr. Emhoff is safe and the school has been evacuated. We are grateful to Secret Service and D.C. Police for their work.”

MORE LANDER FALL-OUT: Rep. ANNA ESHOO (D-Calif.) announced on Twitter Monday night that Biden’s top science adviser would not be testifying before her Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health on Tuesday morning as planned, shortly before he announced his resignation. At the hearing this morning, Eshoo and other lawmakers welcomed the news of his resignation, E&E’s KELSEY BRUGGER reports. Rep. BRETT GUTHRIE (R-Ky.), the subcommittee’s ranking member, said that while Lander would have provided the panel with insight about the White House’s actions, “I’m glad he’s not here today.”

ALL HIM: At today’s press briefing, Jen Psaki said that Lander’s decision to resign was his and his alone. “He made the decision himself,” Psaki told reporters, rejecting questions as to whether Biden sought his resignation. “No, he did not.”

Advise and Consent

MAKING AMENDS … SORT OF — Renowned Holocaust scholar DEBORAH LIPSTADT got her long-awaited Senate hearing Tuesday to serve as the State Department’s special envoy for monitoring and combating antisemitism. And it was, predictably, contentious. While Lipstadt offered an apology for a past critical tweet about Sen. RON JOHNSON (R-Wisc.), she and the Wisconsin Republican still tangled openly, ANDREW DESIDERIO reports. Johnson accused Lipstadt of engaging in “malicious poison” for her tweets on his comments on Black Lives Matter protestors. Lipstadt, meanwhile, pushed back on the idea that her efforts to call out antisemitism and racism have been partisan.

MOVING THOSE NOMINEES: The Senate continued to work through executive and judicial branch nominations, confirming JOHN P. HOWARD III, to be an assistant judge and LOREN ALIKHAN to be an associate judge, both on the D.C. Court of Appeals. Senators also confirmed career diplomat LISA CARTY to be a representative on the United Nations’ Economic and Social Council. Carty also happens to be married to CIA Director BILL BURNS.

Agenda Setting

SCRANTON JOE — Jen Psaki said Tuesday that the president supports Capitol Hill staffers’ push to unionize. “He supports the right of any individual to seek to join a union, to collective bargain and of course Capitol Hill staffers are certainly individuals who are pursuing that,” she said.

What We're Reading

Documents reveal U.S. military’s frustration with White House, diplomats over Afghanistan evacuation (WaPo’s Dan LaMothe and Alex Horton)

Why Biden wants more U.S. students to become butchers (POLITICO’s Ximena Bustillo)

What We're Watching

SUPER BOWL SPECIAL — As is customary, the president will sit down for a televised interview with the network broadcasting the Super Bowl this year. That network is NBC. And the host who will conduct the interview is LESTER HOLT. The interview, according to NBC News, will actually take place on Thursday in Virginia, where Biden is heading for an event on health care costs and prescription drug prices. It will first air that evening before the big shebang on Sunday.

Where's Joe

He received the President’s Daily Brief, and had lunch with Vice President KAMALA HARRIS.

In the afternoon, he delivered remarks about manufacturing, jobs and energy costs. Transportation Secretary PETE BUTTIGIEG and Energy Secretary JENNIFER GRANHOLM joined.

He also received the economic briefing.

Where's Kamala

She and Treasury Secretary JANET YELLEN delivered remarks regarding tax credits. She spent a good chunk of her afternoon with the president — joining him for the daily brief in the Oval Office, lunch and the economic briefing.

In the evening, Harris delivered remarks at a Democratic National Committee virtual fundraiser.

The Oppo Book

NBC’s The West Wing seems to have inspired a whole generation of people to go into politics — JOHN McCARTHY, a special assistant to the president, included.

He told the Asbury Park Press in January 2021 that when he was in high school “and going into college, I would stay up late and watch ‘The West Wing’ all the time.” He added that he’s still a fan of the show today.

“It was a show that totally framed the nobility of politics. It sold me on D.C., and now getting a chance to work there, yeah, it’s amazing.”

At some point, we will reach the generation of young political operatives inspired to get into government by Veep—just not today.

POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER

CALVIN COOLIDGE, on December 6, 1923 via radio. It was his only such broadcast, as he delivered his subsequent five annual messages in writing.

For key presidential speeches, visit millercenter.org.

A CALL OUT — Have a better trivia question? Send us your hardest trivia question on the presidents and we may feature it on Wednesdays.

Edited by Emily Cadei