Earlier today we told you the Secret Service released a statement clearing Dr. Ronny Jackson of a charge that he banged on the door of a colleague in the middle of the night and had to be escorted away by agents lest he wake up then President Obama. According to the Secret Service, there’s “no such record of any incident.”
Well, now it’s Sen. Jon Tester that has some explaining to do on his report this week on Dr. Jackson allegedly wrecked his government vehicle while drunk. According to documents released by the White House, including police reports, it never happened. From the AP:
The records, including police reports, show Jackson was in three minor vehicle incidents in government vehicles during the last five years, but none involved the use of alcohol and he was not found to be at fault. In one case, a side-view mirror was clipped by a passing truck. In another incident an enraged driver in Montgomery County, Maryland, allegedly punched out Jackson’s window during a morning drive to Camp David.
Ari Fleischer then took Sen. Jon Tester to task for releasing this story in the first place:
Regardless of whether or not he is qualified to run the V.A., it sounds like an innocent man has been railroaded. I don’t know Admiral Jackson, but it sounds like he has been presumed guilty before being proven innocent. https://t.co/SxKKeA6eBQ
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) April 27, 2018
If Senator John Tester was a Republican who made allegations against Jackson when he was Pres Obama’s physician, there would have been Hell to pay. The press would be all over Tester for launching false charges. There ought to be a feeding frenzy now. https://t.co/0RbUpqwgRz
— Ari Fleischer (@AriFleischer) April 27, 2018
The Washington Post notes that no evidence of the crash has “publicly surfaced” since Tester released the allegations to the public:
Although many news outlets, including The Washington Post, have described anonymous accounts of some of the other charges, no evidence has publicly surfaced that the crash happened since Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) authorized the release of the allegations on Wednesday. Jackson has vehemently denied all of the allegations.
And, conveniently, Tester isn’t talking to reporters about it now that it looks like his story has fallen apart:
Tester’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest White House explanation, although Tester has defended the release of the information.
Tester said in a brief interview Thursday on Capitol Hill that he “absolutely” stands by his decision to release the detailed list of allegations.
“Look, there was information, there was a pattern to the information,” Tester said. Referring to the news media, he added: “People like you were asking me a bunch of questions. I thought it was the right thing.”
Over to you, Sen. Tester. Do the right thing and clear Admiral Jackson’s good name.
Editor’s note: We’ve corrected a typo in the headline.
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Related:
'Disgusting': Katie Pavlich calls out CNN after Secret Service officially disputes report on Dr. Ronny Jackson https://t.co/R5Wd2fm8Jt
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) April 27, 2018
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