Congressman Ronny Jackson, formerly the White House physician of Presidents Obama and Trump, “belittled” subordinates and drank recklessly while traveling with the president, according to a new report released by the Pentagon on Wednesday. Jackson, a rear admiral, was initially chosen by Mr. Trump as Secretary of Veterans Affairs – but his name was drawn in response to reports of his behavior while in the role.
Wednesday’s report describes inappropriate behavior related to alcohol in two incidents and said he fostered a negative work environment. The Department of Defense Inspector General began investigating Jackson in May 2018 and interviewed 78 witnesses about Jackson’s conduct in the White House Medical Unit for the report.
Jackson, who now represents Texas’s 13th congressional district, said in a statement that the report was politically motivated because he was behind Trump. He said he takes his “professional responsibility with regard to prescription drugs seriously” and added, “I flatly reject any claim that I drank alcohol while on duty.”
“I also categorically deny any suggestion that I was sexually inappropriate in any way at work, outside of work, or anywhere with any member of my staff or anyone else,” Jackson said. “I am not and what is being said has not happened.”
The report states that the two incidents of inappropriate alcohol consumption occurred during presidential trips while Jackson was in charge of providing medical care and treatment to US officials.
During a presidential trip to Manila in 2014, Jackson is accused of making inappropriate comments about the anatomy of a female subordinate and of knocking on her hotel room door while drunkenly saying, “I need you in the middle of the night.” When another subordinate came by to ask what he was doing, Jackson reportedly led both subordinates to his room to take pictures of himself eating a local street food.
The female subordinate said Jackson’s behavior was “frat boy-like behavior,” according to the report. When asked what she thought when he allegedly said, ‘I need you’ outside her door, she said that a naval officer in Jackson’s position should ‘not knock on my door drunk in the middle of the night and tell me that he must have ‘no’ no matter what he needs me for. “
The investigative report stated that Jackson used Ambien on long official flights and that witnesses expressed concern about Jackson’s possible inability to provide proper medical care.
The report concluded that Jackson’s general behavior towards subordinates “discredited, belittled, bullied, and humiliated them.” Witnesses reportedly told investigators that Jackson called subordinates names such as “idiots,” “lazy bastards,” and “bastards.” Only four of the 60 of his former subordinates said they did not experience, see or hear Jackson scream, yell, swear, or belittle subordinates, the report said.
After Jackson ended his service as the president’s physician in 2018, Mr. Trump nominated him as Secretary for Veterans Affairs. Reports of his performance as a doctor led to the withdrawal of his appointment. Jackson retired from the Navy in 2019 and won an open seat from the United States House of Representatives in Texas in 2020 following the retirement of Congressman Mac Thornberry.