Carlos Barria/Reuters
Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT), the top Democrat on the Senate’s veterans’ affairs committee, confirmed on Tuesday that the allegations against Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be secretary of veterans’ affairs, include excessive drinking on the job and over-prescribing medications. In an interview with NPR, Tester said more than 20 military employees came forward to the committee, mostly focusing on Jackson’s alleged conduct during foreign trips. “We were told stories where he was repeatedly drunk on while duty where his main job was to take care of the most powerful man in the world,” Tester said. “That’s not acceptable.” Earlier Tuesday, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-KS) said Jackson had assured him that he never had a drink while on the job. Later Tuesday, CNN reported that Jackson drunkenly banged on the hotel room door of a female employee during a foreign trip in 2015.