The Defense department’s inspector general found in a soon-to-be-released report that Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) verbally abused his staffers, became intoxicated during trips with the President, and sexually harassed his female subordinates while serving as White House physician under the Obama and Trump administrations, CNN reports.
The inspector general’s report, which will be publicly released on Wednesday, describes several instances of Jackson allegedly consuming alcohol while on duty during presidential trips, according to CNN. A witness reportedly told investigators that in one of those instances, he saw the doctor “pounding” on a female subordinate’s hotel door, then telling her “I need you” and “I need you to come to my room” when she opened it.
The episode reportedly marked one of several moments in which Jackson harassed a female staffer or made comments about her body; the report alleges that the doctor told a female subordinate that he would “like to see more of her tattoos” and that he commented to a male staffer that another female subordinate had “great tits” and “a nice ass.”
Investigators also reportedly found that Jackson frequently hurled abuse at his employees, saying in the report that a jaw-dropping 56 witness “told us they personally experienced, saw, or heard about him yelling, screaming, cursing, or belittling subordinates.”
Many of those witnesses called Jackson a “tyrant” and a “dictator” while using words like “meltdowns,” “rages” and “tantrums” to describe his behavior in the workplace, the report says, according to CNN.
Witnesses also reportedly told the inspector general’s office that Jackson would take Ambien during long flights while on the job, though investigators mention that there isn’t a restriction on using the drug in those circumstances.
Jackson, who stepped down as Trump’s personal physician in 2018 over similar allegations of misconduct outlined in the inspector general’s report, accused Democrats of “using this report to repeat and rehash untrue attacks on my integrity” and asserted he was “proud” of the “work environment I fostered” during his tenure at the White House.
“I take my professional responsibility with respect to prescription drug practices seriously; and I flat out reject any allegation that I consumed alcohol while on duty,” he said.
