Jackson withdraws his name from Secretary of VA nomination
After a political firestorm stemming from reports of a 2015 scandal and having his confirmation hearing–originally scheduled for Wednesday the 25th–indefinitely postponed, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, has withdrawn as President Trump’s nominee for Secretary of Veterans Affairs’.
Previously, the president’s selection was already in contention with many due to Jackson’s lack of managerial experience and alleged improper workplace conduct.
The former combat surgeon also came under fire for his glowing appraisal of Trump’s health after his annual physical in January, the findings of which stated statistics many have argued against such as his reported height of 6’3” and 239 lb weight–which happened to exactly one pound above being considered obese for his size and age.
Late last week, Senator John Tester, D-Mont., the ranking Democrat on the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, affirmed to NPR that complaints about Jackson being drunk on duty while on foreign trips in addition to inciting a hostile work environment in the White House medical unit were revealed by 20 active duty and retired military personnel who had worked for Jackson.
During the incident in 2015 a reportedly intoxicated Jackson began banging on the hotel room door of a female employee in the early hours of the morning.
These accusations were then further backed by a summary of Jackson’s questionable deeds and various examples of workplace misconduct compiled by the Democratic staff of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs committee.
In addition to backing the reports by Tester, the summary also revealed that Jackson had, provided such “a large supply” of Percocet–a highly addictive opioid–to a White House Military Office staff member that his own medical staff was thrown “into a panic” after it was unable to account for the missing drugs.
On top of this a nurse on his staff said Dr. Jackson had often written himself prescriptions.
The summary even goes on to detail how during a Secret Service going away party, the doctor got intoxicated and “wrecked a government vehicle.”
Initially, Dr. Jackson planned to continue with the nomination told reporters at the White House that he had “no idea where that is coming from” after reports surfaced about the misconduct.
However categorically denied the car accident stating “I have not wrecked a car. I can tell you that.”
Though Sarah Huckabee Sanders, told reporters earlier Wednesday afternoon that Dr. Jackson had been the subject of at least four background investigations, including by the F.B.I., during his time at the White House–none, she said, had turned up areas for concern–Trump has said nothing about the nomination and little about the accusations only stating “I even told hm a day or two ago where this is going. It’s a disgrace.”
It is still unknown who the president will nominate for the position next.
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