I have noted previously the hemorrhaging of senior people from Kamala Harris’s staff just a year into her rocky tenure as vice president. That trend should be particularly surprising when the VP is heir apparent to an elderly president who stands a good chance of not running for re-election; who wouldn’t want to get in on the ground floor of the next presidency and protect that perch? There are two possible answers: Either her staffers find working for Harris so intolerable that they couldn’t bear it for another three years, or her staffers think her prospects of making it to the presidency are not very good. Neither is flattering.

We can now add to the list the chief speechwriter for Harris, Kate Childs Graham, who is reported to be leaving at the end of this month. Graham, a former director of media strategy for the American Federation of Teachers, is the eighth staffer to abandon Harris since June, following her chief spokeswoman and her communications director – also both women. The Harris team will undoubtedly continue to deny reports of a toxic and chaotic work environment, but actions speak louder than denials.