Skip to main content
An eighth staffer has left U.S. Rep. David Wu's office.
Erin Devaney, the Democratic congressman's executive assistant and scheduler, left Wu's Washington, D.C., office on Friday.
Wu spokesman Erik Dorey said today the job of a scheduler is "the most difficult and high stress in any congressional office," but that Devaney "will always be a friend of the office." Wu has already found a replacement for Devaney, Dorey said.
Devaney did not respond immediately to requests for comment from WW.
In recent weeks, Wu has been under intense national scrutiny. On Jan. 19, The Oregonian published an account of the departure of six staffers and several high-powered consultants from Wu's team immediately following his re-election last November. On Feb. 18, WW published a story that explained, in part, the exodus. The story showed how some of Wu's staffers, concerned about the congressman's increasingly erratic behavior, tried to stage two psychiatric interventions with the Oregon congressman just before the November 2010 election.
The bad news has continued to trickle out of Wu's camp since then. Wu's campaign treasurer departed in February. And last week, WW uncovered documents about a car crash from 2010 involving Wu. Wu says he fell asleep when he crossed a lane of traffic and plowed into a parked car. A tape recording of a non-emergency 911 call revealed Wu asked the caller not to phone police. The owner of the car later told WW that Wu smelled of alcohol at the time.
Amid the controversy of the past month, Wu has told voters in Oregon's First Congressional District that he sought prescription painkillers for severe neck pain in 2010. Family pressures and a tough re-election campaign contributed to the stress that preceded the two interventions, he has said. However, he has declined to say what diagnosis doctors have given him for the mental health troubles he has experienced.
On Wednesday, Wu will host a $100-a-head Portland party to raise funds for his 2012 congressional bid.
WWeek 2015