President Joe Biden’s top science adviser sent out a groveling apology to staffers on Friday night for unspecified “demeaning” conduct. According to Politico, Eric Lander had been under scrutiny by the news outlet in connection with his treatment of staffers, which appears to have prompted his overture. Lander, the head of the White House’s Office of Science and Technology Policy, said as much in his email to about 150 staffers, writing: “I understand that some of you have been asked about [my conduct], and I thought it was important to write directly to you.” “It’s my responsibility to set a respectful tone for our community. It’s clear that I have not lived up to this responsibility,” he was quoted saying, adding that “it is never acceptable for me to speak that way” and he is “deeply sorry.” “I especially want to apologize to those of you who I treated poorly or were present at the time,” he wrote. It was not immediately clear which episodes he was referring to in particular. Biden had previously vowed to fire anyone working in his administration “on the spot” if he caught them “talking down” to colleagues.
