The Chaos Report: Breaking News On Ronny Jackson Nomination: It’s Over.

Ronny Jackson this morning just withdrew his name from nomination to lead the Veterans Administration.

Democrats on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee produced a 2-page document asserting Trump’s personal physician and nominee to head the Veterans Administration has a history of alcohol abuse, including a drunken escapade in which he crashed a government vehicle (which he denies). The same document alleges Jackson was known as the “Candyman” for freely prescribing painkillers and sleep aids, including writing prescriptions to himself, and asking other people to write scrips for him. And it lists multiple complaints of fostering a hostile work environment.

A statement issued by Jackson this morning calls all the accusations “false” but says “because of how Washington works”, they were becoming a “distraction for this president”.

The White House meanwhile, pushed back against charges they did not properly vet Jackson.

That’s left many asking why this is only coming out now, when Jackson also was personal physician to Presidents Obama and George W. Bush, and many of the activities alleged took place under their administrations?

While we can’t know for sure, we think the answer lies in the fact that this seems to be an example of what we call “the A-rod effect”. Part of the reason the former Yankees star was so harshly denounced for steroid use once he was busted compared to some other stars, was that he was generally not well liked by his peers. So when there was a chance to hand him his comeuppance, they did.

There’s huge potential for “collateral damage” here too: the ranking Democrat on Veterans’ Affairs is Montana’s Jon Tester, considered perhaps the most vulnerable of the Democratic Senators up for re-election this fall, so how this has played out could still have a significant impact on the balance of power in the Senate as well.