
Trump’s pick for DEA administrator withdraws from consideration
CNN
Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, has withdrawn from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, he announced Tuesday.
Chad Chronister, a Florida sheriff, has withdrawn from consideration as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration, he announced Tuesday. “Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration,” Chronister, the sheriff of Hillsborough County, posted on X. “There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling. I sincerely appreciate the nomination, outpouring of support by the American people, and look forward to continuing my service as Sheriff of Hillsborough County,” he added. The Trump transition team declined to comment on Tuesday. But on Wednesday, Trump said in a social media post that he pulled his support for the pick. “He didn’t pull out, I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters,” the president-elect said on Truth Social. Trump appears to be referring to a time early in the Covid-19 pandemic when Chronister arrested a Tampa-area pastor for defying a local lockdown ordinance and was critical of people continuing to congregate. The announcement of Chronister as Trump’s pick had received backlash from the MAGA corner of the Republican Party, which opposed some public safety measures put in place in during the pandemic.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth risked compromising sensitive military information that could have endangered US troops through his use of Signal to discuss attack plans, a Pentagon watchdog said in an unclassified report released Thursday. It also details how Hegseth declined to cooperate with the probe.

Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.











