WASHINGTON – Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, was engaged in ‘inappropriate conduct’ while serving as the best White House physician, according to a general report from the Pentagon inspector obtained by NBC News on Wednesday.
The screaming report, which is expected to be released later Wednesday, alleges abusive behavior towards subordinates, including sexual harassment.
The inspector general’s review, first reported by CNN, says Jackson drank alcohol, made sexual comments to subordinates and took the sedative Ambien while working as a doctor in the White House. The watchdog also found that Jackson had abused subordinates and “belittled, belittled, bullied and humiliated them.”
Jackson denied the allegations, saying the Democrats ‘used this report to repeat and repeat false attacks on my integrity’.
“I am proud of the work environment I have cultivated under three different presidents of both parties; I take my professional responsibility for prescription medicine seriously; and I reject all allegations that I drank alcohol while on duty,” he said. said in a statement. “I also deny at all times any implication that I was sexually inappropriate in any way at work, outside of work or anywhere with any staff member or anyone else. It is not me and what is alleged did not happen. “
Referring to interviews with dozens of former staff, the Pentagon inspector general said Jackson did not treat his subordinates with dignity and respect. Witnesses described Jackson as shrill about trivial matters, with an explosive temper and focused on the president’s favor.
In one incident, a female subordinate recounted how an intoxicated Jackson knocked on her door during a 2014 trip to Manila, Philippines.
“We asked the female subordinate what she thought when RDML Jackson knocked on her door in the middle of the night and said ‘I need you,'” the inspector’s report said. She told us’ when a drunk man comes to your room and they say, ‘I need you,’ your mind goes to the worst. I really felt like it was a sexually inappropriate remark. ”
The woman told investigators that a Navy officer in Jackson’s position “should not have to knock on my door in the middle of the night and tell me he ‘needs’ me no matter what for which he does not need me, “reads the report.
The report also found that Jackson, who served as president of Donald Trump and Barack Obama as president of the White House, “engaged in improper conduct involving the use of alcohol during two incidents.” The incidents involve two presidential trips, the Philippines in 2014 and Argentina in March 2016.
Jackson also used Ambien during long overseas trips, the report said. It does not appear to violate the rules of his position, but some witnesses told the inspector general that the use of the sedative raised questions about his ability to provide medical care to U.S. government officials, given the side effects of the drug.
In his statement denying the allegations, Jackson said the inspector’s report “raised the same false allegations from my years in the Obama administration because I refused to turn my back on President Trump. Democrats use this report. to repeat and repeat false attacks. on my integrity, so I want to be clear. ‘
Jackson said his entire career was defined by duty and service, including his time in the Navy and working for three presidents (he was in the White House medical unit in the George W. Bush administration).
“I have not behaved and will never do so in a way that undermines the sincerity with which I take my oath to my country or my constituents,” he said.
During the Trump administration, Jackson was known for declaring that the president was in “excellent” health, despite his statement that Trump should lose weight because he was almost obese.
Trump named Jackson as his secretary of veterans’ affairs in 2018, but Jackson withdrew his nomination following accusations that he drank at work and prescribed too much medicine to patients.
