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DEA whistleblower slams drug industry for opioid crisis

Erica Pandey, author of @Work

Rannazzisi called out the drug industry and Congress. Screengrab via 60 Minutes.

Joe Rannazzisi, former deputy assistant administrator at the Drug Enforcement Agency, sounded the alarm on Congress, lobbyists and the drug industry in an interview with 60 Minutes for their roles in allowing the opioid crisis to escalate.

Key quote: "This is an industry that's out of control. What they want to do, is do what they want to do, and not worry about what the law is. And If they don't follow the law in drug supply, people die. That's just it. People die."

  • On the companies at fault: "The three largest distributors are Cardinal Health, McKesson, and AmerisourceBergen. They control probably 85 or 90 percent of the drugs going downstream."
  • On the drug distribution industry: "These weren't kids slinging crack on the corner. These were professionals who were doing it. They were just drug dealers in lab coats."
  • On Congress' lobbied decision to limit the DEA's abilities: "[T]he drug industry — the manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and chain drugstores — have an influence over Congress that has never been seen before. And these people came in with their influence and their money and got a whole statute changed because they didn't like it."

Go deeper: Congress derails the DEA's opioid crackdown; the deadliest of the deadly opioids

Go deeper

Alayna Treene, author of Sneak Peek
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Kaine, Collins pitch Senate colleagues on censuring Trump

Sen. Tim Kaine speaks with Sen. Susan Collins. Photo: Andrew Harnik/AP via Getty Images

Sens. Tim Kaine and Susan Collins are privately pitching their colleagues on a bipartisan resolution censuring former President Trump, three sources familiar with the discussions tell Axios.

Why it matters: Senators are looking for a way to condemn Trump on the record as it becomes increasingly unlikely Democrats will obtain the 17 Republican votes needed to gain a conviction in his second impeachment.

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Hans Nichols, author of Sneak Peek
3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Anthony Coley to lead Justice Department public affairs

Photo: Xinhua/Ting Shen via Getty Images

Judge Merrick Garland, President Biden’s nominee for attorney general, has tapped Anthony Coley, an Obama-era Treasury Department official, to serve as a senior adviser and to lead public affairs at the Department of Justice, according to people familiar with the matter.

Why it matters: As the public face of the DOJ, Coley will help explain — and defend — the department's actions, from sensitive cases to prosecutorial decisions, including the investigation into Hunter Biden.

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Orion Rummler
4 hours ago - Politics & Policy

AP: Justice Dept. rescinds "zero tolerance" policy

A young girl waves to onlookers through the fence at the U.S.-Mexico border wall in San Ysidro, California, in Nov. 2018. Photo: Sandy Huffaker/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden's acting Attorney General Monty Wilkinson issued a memo on Tuesday to revoke the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which separated thousands of migrant children from their families at the U.S.-Mexico border, AP first reported.

Driving the news: A recent report by Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz emphasized the internal chaos at the agency over the implementation of the policy, which resulted in 545 parents separated from their children as of October 2020.

Go deeper (<1 min. read)Arrow