Alexander replaces chief of staff after child porn raid at former aide’s home

The former chief of staff for U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander has been taken off the payroll following a child pornography raid at the former aide’s home, and the Republican senator from Tennessee has already named a new chief of staff.

David Cleary, who has worked for Alexander for eight years, is the new chief of staff, Alexander said in a Wednesday evening press release. The senator said Cleary is well-prepared for the position.

Earlier Wednesday, Alexander said the Senate legal counsel’s office told him that law enforcement agents were searching the home of Ryan Loskarn, 35, who had been the senator’s chief of staff in his Washington, D.C., office. The search was related to child pornography allegations, Alexander said.

“I am stunned, surprised, and disappointed by what I have learned,” the senator said.

He initially placed Loskarn on administrative leave without pay and said his office is fully cooperating with the investigation.

A few hours later, Alexander issued a new statement.

“The courts will judge Mr. Loskarn’s guilt or innocence, but under these circumstances, he cannot continue to fulfill his duties as chief of staff of this office,” Alexander said. “Therefore, as of today, I have removed him from the payroll.”

The New York Times reported that Loskarn was arrested on charges stemming for the possession and distribution of child pornography. He is expected to remain in custody until Friday, when he is scheduled to appear before a judge at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., the Times said.

Alexander said Cleary has served as his legislative director since 2011 and as Republican staff director for the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee since 2012. He has been working with Alexander since 2006.

Cleary previously served as a staff member on the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce under then-Chairman John Boehner, an Ohio Republican, and as a legislative analyst for the U.S. Department of Education. Cleary earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and master of public administration from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Postal Inspectors conducted the raid of Loskarn’s home, according to NBC News. Politico has posted a video of Loskarn leaving his home in handcuffs with federal agents at about 1 p.m. Wednesday before being driven away in an unmarked car.

Politico said Loskarn had been a longtime Alexander aide.

In November 2011, when he was named Alexander’s chief of staff, Roll Call said Loskarn was one of the Senate GOP’s top strategists and aides, and he had been a fixture in the House and Senate for much of the previous decade. Loskarn has worked at the Senate Republican Conference under Alexander and former Sen. Jon Kyl, an Arizona Republican, and he has also worked for representatives Wally Herger, a California Republican, and Marsha Blackburn, a Tennessee Republican, as well as the House Rules Committee, Politico and Roll Call reported.

He was Blackburn’s communications director from 2003 to 2007, the Tennessean said.

Note: This story was updated at 8:40 a.m. Dec. 12.