WASHINGTON
The White House withdrew the nomination of Dr. Ronny L. Jackson, the White House physician, to lead the Veterans Affairs Department on Thursday after lawmakers went public with a torrent of accusations levelled against him by nearly two dozen current and former colleagues from the White House medical staff.
In a statement released Thursday morning, Jackson announced that he was withdrawing his name for consideration to be the secretary of Veteran Affairs.
“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 in a statement provided by the White House press office.
He said that the charges against him were “completely false and fabricated.”
Within minutes of the withdrawal, President Donald Trump lamented the loss of his nomination and vowed retribution against Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee.
“He’s an admiral, highly respected, a real leader,” Trump said of Jackson in a telephone call to “Fox and Friends.” “And I watched Jon Tester of Montana, a state I won by over 20 points, they love me and I love them. Jon Tester, I think this is going to cause him a lot of problems in his state. He took a man who is an incredible man, an incredible man” and smeared him.
“These are all false accusations,” Trump said. “These are false. They’re trying to destroy a man.”
The concerns raised on Capitol Hill over Jackson’s nomination were bipartisan and emerged after the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee interviewed more than 23 people, including current and former military personnel, who had worked alongside him. The accusations included a hostile work environment, the improper dispensing of prescription drugs to White House staff and reporters during official travel, and intoxication while travelling with the president.
The White House had initially moved to defend Jackson against what officials there called “ugly” abuse and false accusations. And he indicated repeatedly in interactions with reporters that he intended to stay the course.
