Jackson scrambles to save his nomination to head Veterans Affairs

Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s controversial pick to head the Department of Veterans Affairs, met with a key Republican senator Wednesday evening to save his sinking nomination. 

Jackson met with Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has jurisdiction over his nomination, hours after Democrats released an explosive memo detailing allegations against Jackson ranging from drunkenness to improper handling of prescription drugs.

Tillis, one of Trump’s stronger allies in the Senate GOP conference, met with Jackson after regular business hours in one of the Capitol’s upstairs hideaways to sort through the allegations.

“He’s giving me more information so I can get down to the facts,” Tillis said as he emerged from the meeting. “The problem that we have is we’ve got allegations. We’ve got to pin every one of them down and that’s the purpose of the meeting.”

Jackson, who was swarmed by reporters and television cameramen as he made his way to a vehicle waiting outside the Capitol, declined to respond to questions about whether he thought the allegations were unfair.

Hours earlier, Senate Democrats released a list of 20 specific allegations that have been leveled against Jackson by current and former colleagues of Jackson, who serves as chief physician to President Trump and held the same position to President Obama. {mosads}

These sources allege that Jackson received the nickname of “Candyman” from White House staff because he would freely dole out prescription drugs without the proper paperwork.

They claim he wrote out prescriptions to himself and would prescribe drugs when other doctors wouldn’t.

The document also alleges that Jackson once gave such a large supply of Percocet — an addictive painkiller — to a White House Military Office staffer that it caused a brief panic within the White House Medical Unit over missing pills.

It claims he had a private stock of controlled substances.

These anonymous sources who have been in touch with the Veterans’ Affairs panel also say that Jackson was involved in “multiple incidents of drunkenness on duty” and got drunk at a Secret Service going away party and wrecked a government vehicle.

Several Republican senators on Wednesday told The Hill on condition of anonymity that it might be best for Jackson to withdraw his same.

“He’s totally unqualified,” said one Republican senator who expressed disbelief that Trump picked his personal physician, who now oversees a staff of 70, to head the federal government’s second-largest agency.