A GOP congressman told a constituent's boss that she opposed Trump. Afraid and uncomfortable, she resigned.

Womens March protest.
(Image credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

Republican Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (N.J.) signed and delivered a fundraising letter in March to the board member of a local bank highlighting the existence of activist groups whose "sole agenda is to reverse the results of the November election" and "to stop our Republican majority from making good on our promises." In a handwritten note at the bottom of the letter, Frelinghuysen warned the board member that an employee of the bank — and one of his constituents — was "one of the ringleaders" of such a group, NJ 11th for Change. WNYC reported the group had "been pressuring Frelinghuysen to meet with constituents in his district and oppose the Trump agenda."

Though Frelinghuysen's campaign office claimed the note was "brief and innocuous," the alert reportedly caused the employee, Saily Avelenda, to be "questioned and criticized for her involvement," WNYC said. Avelenda claims she was even asked "to write a statement" to her CEO. "Needless to say, that did cause some issues at work that were difficult to overcome," she said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More