OAN Staff Abril Elfi 6:07 PM – Tuesday, December 3, 2024
President-elect Donald Trump’s Drug Enforcement Agency Administrator pick has announced that he will not be accepting the job following backlash.
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On Tuesday, Hillsborough County Sheriff, Chad Chronister, stepped down just three days after being nominated.
“To have been nominated by President-Elect Donald Trump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime,” Chronister said in a statement.
“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,” the veteran cop added. “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, the outpouring of support by the American people, and look forward to continuing my service as Sheriff of Hillsborough County,” he said.
To have been nominated by President-Elect @realDonaldTrump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime. Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully… pic.twitter.com/bvNF8m9Bh4
Soon after his nomination, Chronister’s record as Hillsborough County sheriff came under scrutiny.
On March 30th, 2020, Chronister ordered the arrest of Ronald Howard-Browne, the pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church, for allegedly flouting COVID-19 lockdown orders by holding services at his church.
“Howard-Browne intentionally and repeatedly disregarded state and local public health orders, which put his congregation and our community in danger,” Chronister posted on X at the time.
Howard-Browne was charged with unlawful assembly and violation of public health emergency rules. Both charges were later dropped.
“The State Attorney’s Office has recognized that compliance and not criminal punishment is the focus of our emergency health laws,” Chronister said after Howard-Browne arrest.
“Law enforcement’s intervention through arrest has been rare during this health crisis, and while it remains a necessary tool to protect the health and safety of our community, we agree that further criminal sanctions are not necessary in this instance.”
Many Republicans slammed Chronister’s nomination, including Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Chip Roy (R-Texas).
“I’m going to call ‘em like I see ’em. Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest [of] a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns,” Massie wrote on X.
“We don’t need authoritarians who refuse to use discretion and protect the Constitution — no matter which party is in power,” Roy told Fox News Digital.
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