Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the people and power centers in the Biden administration. With Allie Bice. Send tips | Subscribe here| Email Alex | Email Max After we reported Monday that White House officials had investigated ERIC LANDER, the president’s top science adviser, over allegations of abusive behavior to subordinates, senior and mid-level staff in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) were left grasping for a response. At a meeting led by the OSTP’s chief of staff that morning — a recording of which was obtained by West Wing Playbook — officials expressed varied reactions to the news, as well as anguish about how to improve morale within the office. Some felt that an apology email Lander had sent on Friday night — which came in anticipation of that initial POLITICO story — was a positive first step that spoke to his character, despite OSTP’s deputy counsel RACHEL WALLACE having told POLITICO that she thought the apology “compounded the deep hurt and damage he has caused by ignoring these other acts of aggression, harassment and retaliation.” “Having done a lot of cultural investigations around racial discrimination, or gender discrimination, like, I've never seen an email that's so raw and emotional and sort of, like, hits the nail on the head,” said one official on the call. “So I think that's to be commended. I think that's Eric, at his essence, like, very open, honest, engaging and kind of, like, willing to call a spade a spade.” A second official suggested that while the office culture needed improvement, it wasn’t all that different from the world of academia. But a third official argued that “most people are looking to see not words from Eric, they want to see behavior change” adding that his conduct had hurt the entire office culture. “What would be extremely helpful is knowing what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate behavior. I don't know what that means from an OSTP perspective anymore,” the official said. The meeting provided an intimate look at how the administration struggled to live up to President JOE BIDEN ’s own pledge to fire anyone who showed disrespect for their colleagues on the spot. Weeks prior, an internal investigation had found “credible evidence” that Lander — OSTP’s director and a member of the president’s Cabinet whom the White House had touted as a key player in the pandemic response — had bullied and demeaned subordinates. The revelations were exceedingly difficult to “square” with that Biden pledge, the OSTP officials noted. “How does the president square this? That's not an answer I can give,” chief of staff MARC AIDINOFF said during the meeting. “It's an answer that I would presume JEN PSAKI will have to give later today.” Psaki and the White House originally stood by Lander while condemning his behavior, insisting that the investigative and disciplinary processes put in place to handle the Lander situation satisfied the president’s pledge. But late last night, the White House accepted Lander’s resignation. He is scheduled to depart on Feb. 18. The OSTP senior staff meeting also shed light on the anxiety the office felt in anticipation of the Lander investigation becoming public. The third official noted that: “I know a lot of people anticipated this article to drop today and spent the weekend stressed out about it. I know a lot of people just wanted to take today off because they already feel exhausted. And it's like nine o'clock.” A fourth official noted that, “I got emails over the weekend about people who are getting reached out to and want to know what to say, and I didn't even know what to say to them.” Aidinoff kicked off the meeting by acknowledging his own struggles over what to say. “There were some things in the article that were surprises to me, and some that, you know, weren't,” he said. Near the end of the meeting, he did make a plea to his staff for solidarity “One of our first orders of business is protecting the president,” he said. TEXT US — Did we miss something about Lander’s resignation? Send us an email or text and we will try to include your thoughts in the next day’s edition. Can be anonymous, on background, etc. Email us at westwingtips@politico.com or you can text/Signal Alex at 8183240098 or Max at 7143455427. WHAT YOU TEXTED: In response to yesterday’s top about the White House limiting the number of “open press” events that Biden does, one Democratic operative texted: “The other drawback of doing so many pooled/select press events on the road is that it severely dampens press coverage. Like, you are sending the President or Vice President to another state to tout the work of the Administration…and you don’t try to maximize the comms mileage? I have told WH Advance and Comms so many times to scout venues that are large so that they can be structured as fully open press.” Do you work in the Biden administration? Are you in touch with the White House? Are you MARC AIDINOFF, the chief of staff at OSTP? Email/text us! Please? | 
