Document summarizing more than 20 interviews with people who served with the VA nominee contains concerning allegations

Only hours after the White House press secretary insisted that Ronny Jackson, Trump’s pick to run the veterans affairs department, “had received more vetting than most nominees”, a document was released that detailed allegations of Jackson, the current White House physician, mishandling drugs and wrecking a car while intoxicated.

Jackson said he would continue to move forward with the nominating process and said he had “never wrecked a car”.

The Montana Democrat Jon Tester, the ranking Democrat on the Senate veterans affairs committee, released a document summarizing more than 20 interviews conducted by staffers with people who served with Jackson. The document includes allegations of drunkenness, faulty prescribing practices and creating a hostile work environment.

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It includes claims that Jackson “got drunk and wrecked a government vehicle” after a party and described “at least one occasion [when] Dr Jackson could not be reached when needed because he was passed out drunk in his hotel room”. It also alleges that he so freely handed out prescription drugs that he was nicknamed “candyman” and had his own “private stocks of controlled substances”.

The allegations come a day after Tester and Johnny Isakson, the chair of the veterans affairs committee, jointly released a statement saying that the committee was postponing Jackson’s confirmation hearing “in light of new information presented to the committee”.

The two added: “We take very seriously our constitutional duty to thoroughly and carefully vet each nominee sent to the Senate for confirmation. We will continue looking into these serious allegations and have requested additional information from the White House to enable the committee to conduct a full review”.

Jackson’s nomination had long faced scrutiny because the White House doctor did not have any administrative experience prior to Trump choosing him to run the Department of Veterans Affairs, which employs nearly 350,000 people. Trump left room for Jackson to withdraw on Tuesday in a news conference with French president Emanuel Macron. “I don’t want to put a man through a process that is too ugly like this and it’s disgusting,” Trump said. “I’ll stand behind him. He’s a fine man but it’s his choice.”

Jackson, who was nominated in March, first came to public notice when he told reporters in January that Trump had “incredibly good genes” after giving him a physical.