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

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.
Avelenda, formerly a senior vice president and assistant general counsel at the bank, decided to resign. "I thought my congressman ... put me in a really bad situation as the constituent, and used his name, used his position, and used his stationery to try to punish me," she said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
Jordan Libowitz, spokesman for the non-partisan Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said the note was "certainly troubling." "Whether or not it breaks a criminal statute is one issue, but the very clear issue is that it appears that a member of Congress might be using his power to threaten someone's employment because of their political activities," Libowitz said.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
July 20 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include AI replacing workers, and Donald Trump trying to divert media attention away from the Epstein files
-
5 suspiciously good cartoons about the Epstein files
Cartoons Artists take on the relationship between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein
-
A glorious Greek island without the 'swank'
The Week Recommends Lesbos doesn't welcome 'hoards' of tourists, but is 'magnificent' and worth exploring
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months
-
SCOTUS greenlights mass DOE firings
Speed Read The Supreme Court will allow the Trump administration to further shrink the Education Department