A scathing new Department of Defense report claims that current congressman Ronny Jackson was deeply unprofessional during his tenure as White House physician. The retired Navy veteran who served under Barack Obama and Donald Trump is accused of breaking the rules relating to drinking alcohol while on official business and took Ambien in a manner that made his colleagues concerned. He also reportedly made sexual comments to his subordinates.
The investigation was launched by the Department of Defense’s inspector general in 2018 and just released on Wednesday, though CNN reported some of the key details ahead of its publication. Investigators interviewed 78 witnesses to paint a picture of the culture under the current House rep from Texas.
The report notes that a “majority of witnesses (56) … who worked with RDML Jackson from 2012 through 2018 told us they personally experienced, saw, or heard about him yelling, screaming, cursing, or belittling subordinates.” Elsewhere, the report claims Jackson spent a night drinking in Manila while traveling with then-president Obama, only to come back to the hotel and proposition a subordinate. A witness describes Jackson banging on her hotel room door only to tell her “I need you,” and “I need you to come to my room.” Another testimony from that same trip claims Jackson told a subordinate she “had ‘great t**s,’ and ‘what a nice a**,’ and that RDML Jackson also told Manila Witness 1 that he would ‘like to see more of her tattoos.’”
The report also notes that it is incomplete. They say that White House Counsel made a point of sitting in on witness interviews, which may have forced witnesses to hold their tongues.
“We determined that the potential chilling effect of their presence would prevent us from receiving accurate testimony,” the report states.
Jackson denied the allegations contained in the report ahead of its publication. He told CNN that the report was brought to the surface as retribution for his standing with Donald Trump during his recent impeachment. He called the report a political attack because he refused to “turn my back on President (Donald) Trump.”
