Trump furiously calls Democrat Senator Jon Tester of Montana should quit after the White House doctor Ronny Jackson nominated for Dept. of Veterans Affairs failed
Saturday, April 28, 2018
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| Democrat Senator Jon Tester of Montana, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans' Committee |
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| White House physician Rear Admiral Ronny Jackson speaks at the press briefing at the White House Ronny Jackson is a military Doctor who gave Trump "A Clean Bill Of Health" |
VietPress USA (April 28, 2018): Ronny Lynn Jackson, born May 4, 1967, is an American physician and a rear admiral in the United States Navy. First appointed to the role of Physician to the President on July 25, 2013 by Barack Obama, he was retained by Donald Trump after his inauguration in 2017.
In 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Jackson to be United States Secretary of Veterans Affairs to succeed David Shulkin. On April 26, 2018, Jackson withdrew his nomination as Secretary of Veterans Affairs amidst widely publicized allegations of misconduct and mismanagement while serving in the White House.
Jackson is a board-certified diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine and is designated as a fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine. He currently holds faculty clinical appointments with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the Harvard School of Medicine-affiliated Beth Israel Deaconess Disaster Medicine Fellowship Program.
Jackson began his active duty naval service in 1995 at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, where he completed his internship in transitional medicine in 1996. He went on to become the honor graduate of the Navy’s Undersea Medical Officer Program in Groton, Connecticut. Qualified in submarine and hyperbaric medicine, he subsequently took on operational assignments including: instructor at the Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center in Panama City, Florida; detachment officer in charge and diving medical officer at Explosive Ordnance Disposal Mobile Unit 8 in Sigonella, Italy; and diving safety officer at the Naval Safety Center in Norfolk.
In 2001, Jackson returned to Portsmouth Naval Medical Center to begin his residency in emergency medicine, finishing at the top of his class and receiving the honor graduate designation. Upon completing his residency in 2004, he was assigned as clinical faculty in the Emergency Medicine Residency Program at the Naval Hospital in Portsmouth, Virginia. In 2005, he joined the 2nd Marine Logistics Group, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. From there he deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom as the emergency medicine physician in charge of resuscitative medicine for a forward deployed Surgical Shock Trauma Platoon in Taqaddum, Iraq.
In 2006, while still in Iraq, Jackson was selected as a White House physician. Since arriving at the White House, he has directed the Executive Health Care for the President’s Cabinet and senior staff, served as physician supervisor for the Camp David Presidential Retreat, held the position of physician to the White House and led the White House Medical Unit as its director. He has served as White House physician during the past three administrations and was the appointed physician to the president for President Obama. In January 2017, Jackson made headlines after treating a girl who was bitten by Sunny, one of the Obamas' dogs. He currently serves as the appointed physician to the president for President Trump.
On March 28, 2018, President Donald Trump announced that he planned to replace David Shulkin with Ronny Jackson as secretary of Veterans Affairs. Some senators expressed skepticism of the nomination due to Jackson's lack of management experience.
On April 23, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs postponed a hearing on his nomination after current and former employees on the White House medical staff accused Jackson of creating a hostile work environment, excessively drinking on the job, and improperly dispensing medication. Senator Jon Tester told CNN on April 24 that Jackson was known as "the candy man" inside the White House, according to around 20 people that brought these concerns to the Veterans' Affairs Senate Committee. He would allegedly hand out Ambien, Provigil, and other prescription drugs "like they were candy". CNN also reported that during an overseas trip in 2015, an intoxicated Jackson loudly knocked on the hotel room door of a female employee, so noisily that the United States Secret Service reportedly stopped him to prevent him potentially waking up then-President Barack Obama. President Trump responded during a news conference the next day, defending Jackson as "one of the finest people that I have met" He was nominated to the rank of rear admiral (upper half) on March 23, 2018. (Wikipedia)
The White House has completed its investigation of the most serious allegations that surfaced against Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, a White House official said. Jackson had been President Trump's nominee to be secretary of Veterans Affairs until he pulled out of consideration on Thursday.
At that time, Jackson called the allegations against him "completely false and fabricated," but said they had become a distraction for Trump and the mission to help veterans.
The allegations were made public by Sen. Jon Tester of Montana, the senior Democrat on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. He said they came from nearly two dozen current and former military service members who'd worked with Jackson.
President Trump today on Saturday, April 28, 2018, tweeted early that the allegations "are proving false. The Secret Service is unable to confirm (in fact they deny) any of the phony Democrat charges which have absolutely devastated the wonderful Jackson family. Tester should resign."
Trump said people in Montana, a state he won by 20 percentage points in 2016, "will not stand for this kind of slander." He called Jackson "the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!"
Read this news from AP on Yahoo News at: https://www.yahoo.com/news/white-house-jackson-allegations-not-backed-records-050422283--politics.html
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Trump says Democrat should quit over VA nomination brouhaha
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A furious President Donald Trump on Saturday called for the resignation of the Democratic senator who assembled and released what he called "false" allegations that scuttled the nomination of the White House doctor who'd been in line to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Trump stepped up his criticism of Montana's Jon Tester, the top Democrat on the Senate Veterans' Committee, in two tweets days after asserting that Tester "has to have a big price to pay" politically in the GOP friendly state for his leading role in Ronny Jackson's failed VA bid. Tester faces a competitive re-election race this year.
Tester, in a statement, didn't directly respond to Trump but said he was committed to aiding veterans.
At issue are allegations that Tester has said were brought to his attention by more than 20 military and retired military personnel who've worked with Jackson. Tester said not investigating would have been "a dereliction of duty" and said making them public was important for the sake of transparency.
The charges against Jackson raised questions about his prescribing practices and leadership ability, including accusations of drunkenness on the job. Tester's office collected the allegations, which included a claim that Jackson "got drunk and wrecked a government vehicle" at a Secret Service going-away party.
Trump tweeted early Saturday that the allegations "are proving false. The Secret Service is unable to confirm (in fact they deny) any of the phony Democrat charges which have absolutely devastated the wonderful Jackson family. Tester should resign."
Trump said people in Montana, a state he won by 20 percentage points in 2016, "will not stand for this kind of slander." He called Jackson "the kind of man that those in Montana would most respect and admire, and now, for no reason whatsoever, his reputation has been shattered. Not fair, Tester!"
Before leaving for a rally in Michigan, Trump directed another tweet at Tester, likening the senator's claims against Jackson to the "phony Russian Collusion" accusations leveled against Trump's 2016 campaign. "Tester should lose race in Montana. Very dishonest and sick!"
In his free-wheeling remarks Saturday night, Trump told his supporters that "what Tester did to this man is a disgrace." He also insinuated that Tester himself could be the target of allegations: "I know things about Tester that I could say, too. And if I said 'em, he'd never be elected again." He didn't elaborate.
A written statement by Tester didn't respond directly to Trump's tweets.
"It's my duty to make sure Montana veterans get what they need and have earned, and I'll never stop fighting for them as their Senator," it said. It also said Trump has signed eight Tester bills on veterans into law.
A spokeswoman for the committee chairman, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., declined comment Saturday on Trump's tweets. When Amanda Maddox was asked whether Isakson was troubled by Tester's release of the allegations, she cited comments the chairman made Thursday: "Everyone has an obligation if they make a charge to release it. And everyone who is charged has a right to have a day in court to be heard."
The White House said Friday, one day after Jackson withdrew his nomination, that internal records raise doubt about some of the most serious accusations.
The White House said its records, including police reports, show Jackson was in three minor incidents in government vehicles during the past five years, but none involved the use of alcohol and he was not found to be at fault. In one case, a side-view mirror was clipped by a passing truck. In another incident an enraged driver in Montgomery County, Maryland, allegedly punched out Jackson's window during a morning drive to Camp David.
The White House medical unit that Jackson ran successfully passed regular controlled substance audits, according to the records for the last three years. The reviews did recommend improvements to the medical unit's handling of controlled substances, but did not find misconduct.
The Associated Press reviewed the documents Friday. They were the result of an internal White House review of allegations raised against Jackson during his brief confirmation process. The White House says the records disprove the allegations.
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