Eddie Bernice Johnson's Chief of Staff is on Leave After Accidentally Sending an Email About a Gay Colleague to a Gay Colleague

The Washington Blade, D.C.'s main LGBT news outlet, is reporting that Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has placed Chief of Staff Murat Gokcigdem on leave following questions about a 2010 e-mail.According to the piece, staffer Chris Crowe was seeking a letter of recommendation from Johnson for a position in Obama's Treasury Department...

By Eric Nicholson

May 15, 2012

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The Washington Blade, D.C.'s main LGBT news outlet, is reporting that Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson has placed Chief of Staff Murat Gokcigdem on leave following questions about a 2010 e-mail.

According to the piece, staffer Chris Crowe was seeking a letter of recommendation from Johnson for a position in Obama's Treasury Department. Gokcigdem wrote Johnson an email about Crowe, who is gay. But he accidentally sent the message to Crowe instead.

"It is my personal belief that he has contacts there," Gokcigdem wrote. "And they, as a group watching and supporting each other if you know what I mean."

Crowe died of a staph infection in 2011 following an open-heart surgery to treat complications from meningitis.

The dust up comes as Johnson is in the midst of her toughest reelection fight in years. It also serves as yet another reminder to double-check that "to" field before you hit send.

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