Acting DEA chief: Trump "condoned police misconduct"
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America's top drug enforcement officer, acting chief of the Drug Enforcement Administration Chuck Rosenberg, shot down President Trump's remarks about police use of force in a worldwide memo to DEA agents Saturday, stating that they should disregard any suggestion that roughing up suspects is okay, per the WSJ.
- Rosenberg's memo says that Trump "condoned police misconduct" by telling a crowd of law enforcement officials Friday that they shouldn't be "too nice" when arresting "thugs," and that the president's comments required a response.
- The memo continues: "I write to offer a strong reaffirmation of the operating principles to which we, as law enforcement professionals, adhere... I write because we have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong. That's what law enforcement officers do. That's what you do. We fix stuff. At least, we try."
Rosenberg's background: A longtime Justice Department official, Rosenberg perviously served George W. Bush's first attorney general, John Ashcroft. He also worked for the now-Special Prosecutor in the Russia probe, Robert Mueller, when he was FBI director; and ex-FBI Director James Comey, first when he was deputy AG and again when he became FBI director.
Then in 2015, Attorney General Loretta Lynch hired Rosenberg as acting administrator of the DEA under Barack Obama, and he was kept on by the Trump administration.
Our thought bubble: The move on Rosenberg's part draws parallels to when Sally Yates, then acting attorney general retained by the Trump administration, said she'd refuse to defend Trump's travel ban. Trump asked for her resignation.
