White House physician Dr. Ronny Jackson withdrew from the confirmation process to lead the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Thursday amid a probe into his drinking and prescription habits and resulting media scrutiny.
Jackson, who has been considering removing himself from contention since allegations of professional misconduct first emerged, was hit Wednesday with a two page report, released by Democratic lawmakers, detailing his crashing of a government vehicle after drinking at a Secret Service party.
In a statement announcing his withdrawal, Jackson vigorously denied any wrongdoing.
“If they had any merit, I would not have been selected, promoted and entrusted to serve in such a sensitive and important role as physician to three presidents over the past 12 years,” Jackson said. “Going into this process, I expected tough questions about how to best care for our veterans, but I did not expect to have to dignify baseless and anonymous attacks on my character and integrity.”
He added that he felt he should withdraw because the investigation and resulting media attention had become a “distraction” for the Trump administration’s agenda.
“Unfortunately, because of how Washington works, these false allegations have become a distraction for this President and the important issue we must be addressing — how we give the best care to our nation’s heroes,” Jackson said. “While I will forever be grateful for the trust and confidence President Trump has placed in me by giving me this opportunity, I am regretfully withdrawing my nomination to be Secretary for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” he added.
Though he publicly denied crashing the government vehicle, he has privately vacillated between calling it quits and continuing with the nomination process, several White House officials told the Washington Post.
The congressional investigation, led by Sen. Jon Tester (D., Mont.), has accused Jackson of recklessly prescribing sleeping aids and wakefulness drugs to White House staff and members of the press, drinking excessively on official trips, and, in one case, drunkenly banging on a female White House aide’s door in the middle of the night.
The White House maintained their support for Jackson’s confirmation and cast the investigation into his conduct as partisan obstruction.
Senate Democrats expressed reservations about Jackson’s appointment prior to any allegations of professional misconduct due to his his lack of managerial experience. Though he served in combat and has served as White House physician for two previous administrations, Jackson has never managed a large organization.
The report produced by Tester and his colleagues did not provide any evidence for the claim that he crashed a government vehicle but does include testimony from a number of past and former colleagues, many of whom raised concerns about his facilitation of a hostile work environment.
The document reads: “Jackson was described as ‘the most unethical person I have ever worked with,’ ‘flat-out unethical,’ ‘explosive,’ ‘100 percent bad temper,’ ‘toxic,’ ‘abusive,’ ‘volatile,’ ‘incapable of not losing his temper,’ ‘the worst officer I have ever served with,’ ‘despicable,’ ‘dishonest,’ as having ‘screaming tantrums’ and “screaming fits,’ as someone who would ‘lose his mind over small things,’ ‘vindictive,’ ‘belittling,’ ‘the worse [sic] leader I’ve ever worked for.’”
Jackson’s confirmation hearing was initially scheduled for Monday but was postponed pending the conclusion of the ongoing investigation.