When Iowa conservative talk-radio host and former flight pilot Sam Clovis was tapped by Donald Trump to be the U.S. Department of Agriculture‘s chief scientist, the choice raised more than a few eyebrows—by law, those who serve in the position must reportedly be “among distinguished scientists with specialized training or significant experience in agricultural research, education, and economics.” Clovis, on the other hand, has a doctorate in public administration from the University of Alabama, but zero experience in science. “In my judgment, I don’t see how in the world he meets the requirements of the law,” Senator Debbie Stabenow said when Clovis was nominated. “I think this is certainly something we’re exploring.”

On Monday, Clovis withdrew his name from consideration, but not because he is woefully underqualified. Instead, he decided to withdraw due to his role supervising Trump campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who earlier this month pleaded guilty to lying to F.B.I. investigators about his communications with Russian contacts. “The political climate inside Washington has made it impossible for me to receive balanced and fair consideration for this position,” Clovis, who is currently serving as the U.S.D.A.‘s senior White House adviser, said in a letter to Trump. “The relentless assaults on you and your team seem to be a blood sport that only increases in intensity each day.”

Clovis was dragged into the Russia probe‘s line of fire when The Washington Post reported earlier this week that he was one of the Trump campaign officials with whom Papadopoulos corresponded. By way of explanation for Clovis‘s apparent encouragement of Papadopoulos‘s outreach efforts to Russians, Clovis‘s attorney, Victoria Toensing, said in a statement that as a ”polite gentleman from Iowa, [he] would have expressed courtesy and appreciation“ for any suggestion made by a campaign volunteer.

Clovis’s nomination had been contentious for other reasons; besides having no academic background in either science or agriculture, he previously suggested that same-sex marriage could lead to the legalization of pedophilia. He also publicly wondered whether Barack Obama was born in the United States and has questioned the roundly accepted scientific view that human-produced greenhouse gas emissions contribute to and cause global warming.

“Sam Clovis was almost a comically bad nominee, even for this administration,” Senator Patrick J. Leahy, a member of the Agriculture Committee, said in a statement Thursday. “But President Trump already knew that when he nominated Mr. Clovis, and that is not why his nomination was abruptly pulled today. Not because of his association with birtherism or as a climate-change denier, or his other repugnant assertions.” Tom Vilsack, the Obama administration’s Agriculture secretary, took a similar view. “It was only a matter of time,” he told Politico.

In his withdrawal letter to Trump, Clovis suggested that he keep his current post, which doesn’t require Senate confirmation. “[I] will continue to serve at the pleasure of you and the Secretary of Agriculture,” he told the president.