A former Obama press aide, Adam Fetcher, is facing a felony charge as he stands accused of stealing a co-worker’s debit card to purchase kratom, a mood-altering substance, from a Minneapolis smoke shop.
Fetcher served as the Chief Communications Officer for the City of Minneapolis until he was fired from his role in early July during a police investigation following reports that he had stolen cash and bank cards from three fellow municipal employees and blown through hundreds of dollars in smoke shops.
Prosecutors formally charged Fetcher with a felony count of financial transaction fraud on Wednesday, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
The allegations create a fresh political problem for Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who is already facing scrutiny over widespread fraud tied to members of the city’s Somali community, a constituency with which he has cultivated close political ties.
Before finding himself working for Frey, Fetcher held a number of high-level communications posts in the Obama administration and on the former president’s campaign.
He served as the assistant press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security for about eight months in 2011. After that, he served as the press secretary for Obama’s Department of the Interior until July 2012, when he left the administration to serve as the deputy national press secretary for the president’s reelection campaign.
After leaving politics, he held a number of corporate roles, including high-level communications posts at Patagonia and Lyft.
It is unclear why the former Obama press aide would have stolen relatively small amounts of cash from his coworkers when city records show that he was making nearly $200,000 a year in his role as Minneapolis’s top communications staffer. Fetcher also had no criminal record at the time of the alleged fraud, save for a few traffic violations, per court records.
Individuals familiar with the matter told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Fetcher is suspected of stealing cash and cards from coworkers’ desks and bags shortly after he returned from a rehabilitation program.
He revealed to coworkers that he was seeking treatment for a substance abuse problem, according to the outlet.
Kratom is commonly used to treat opioid withdrawal symptoms, though it can become addictive itself. The substance has come under increased federal and state scrutiny in recent years.
Fetcher’s attorney told Fox News Digital that she had no comment.
He is scheduled to appear in court on August 11.
Fox News Digital reached a representative for Obama on Thursday for comment but did not receive a response.
