District of Columbia police earlier this month searched the office suite of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer as part of an investigation into sexual assault allegations against her husband, Shawn DeRemer.
It was unknown what Metropolitan Police were seeking or how long they remained during the Feb. 5 search, Politico reported Friday, citing three Labor Department officials who were granted anonymity to discuss the ongoing investigation.
It is unusual for local police to seek access to federal property, and especially rare for them to search a Cabinet official's office.
The suite includes workstations for aides and advisers who report to Lori Chavez-DeRemer.
"LCD knew MPD was here but not why," one of the officials told Politico, referring to Lori Chavez-DeRemer by her initials.
Neither the Labor secretary nor Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was in the office at the time of the search.
A Labor Department spokesperson and a Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson declined to comment to Politico.
An attorney for Shawn DeRemer did not respond to Politico's request for comment. In a statement to The Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Shawn DeRemer denied the allegations, saying he had "not done any of this and I categorically deny these things. I will absolutely categorically fight everything in this."
Shawn DeRemer, an anesthesiologist based in Portland, Oregon, has been barred from the Labor Department's headquarters following complaints by two female staffers that he sexually assaulted them, The New York Times reported Thursday, citing a police report.
The women alleged Shawn DeRemer touched them inappropriately inside the Labor Department's building on Constitution Avenue.
One of the alleged incidents, which occurred Dec. 18, was recorded by office security cameras, sources told the Times.
The video shows Shawn DeRemer giving one of the women an extended embrace and was reviewed as part of a criminal investigation, the Times reported.
Metropolitan Police filed a report regarding the alleged forcible sexual contact.
On Jan. 12, Lori Chavez-DeRemer's chief of staff, Jihun Han, and deputy chief of staff, Rebecca Wright, were placed on administrative leave after the department's inspector general launched an investigation into complaints alleging misuse of official travel and other misconduct.
The underlying complaint, as described in press reports, alleges that travel tied to Lori Chavez-DeRemer's official schedule overlapped with personal visits involving family and friends.
The overlap raised questions about whether taxpayers covered costs that should have been paid privately.
The complaint also includes allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate and drinking during the workday, claims the White House and the Labor Department have rejected.
Shawn DeRemer denied allegations that his wife was having an affair in a statement to the New York Post.
"There's not an ounce of truth to this, and anyone who knows my wife would know that," Shawn DeRemer said.
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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