During the period he was a nominee to be Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Rear Admiral Dr. Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s personal physician, was subjected to a horrendous barrage of totally unsubstantiated personal attacks fed to Democrats on the Veterans Affairs committee and to the media. The attacks were scurrilous and what made them notable is there was never a whit of evidence produced for any of them. The two allegations that involved any factual basis were batted down by the Secret Service. In short, a good man was maligned and the Democrats, the media, and sad to say a lot of NeverTrumpers willingly carried water for the attacks.

Today, Vice President Mike Pence’s personal physician, Army doctor (no one is reporting her rank but I’m guessing it is lieutenant colonel) Jennifer Pena was forced to resign after being identified as the source of many of the rumors. This comports with initial stories we heard that Jackson was in a “power struggle” with another doctor for control of the White House medical operation and that was the source of the rumors.

Apparently, the whole vendetta started when Pena accused Jackson of violating HIPAA by sharing some health detail involving Mrs. Pence with Chief of Staff John Kelly. When her power play was rebuffed she turned to the Democrats.

According to copies of internal documents obtained by CNN, Pence’s doctor accused Jackson of overstepping his authority and inappropriately intervening in a medical situation involving the second lady as well as potentially violating federal privacy rights by briefing White House staff and disclosing details to other medical providers — but not appropriately consulting with the vice president’s physician.

The vice president’s physician later wrote in a memo of feeling intimidated by an irate Jackson during a confrontation over the physician’s concerns. The physician informed White House officials of being treated unprofessionally, describing a pattern of behavior from Jackson that made the physician “uncomfortable” and even consider resigning from the position.

Farah, press secretary for the vice president, said Pence’s physician “brought the issue to Mr. Ayers, who appropriately referred the matter to the proper channels.”

Just for the record, there is no such thing as it being wrong for a rear admiral to make a subordinate feel either intimidated or uncomfortable.

Of note is this article floating around.

It paints a very unflattering picture of Pena as not someone who should be holding a commission or a medical license much less working around the vice president. Lest someone claim it is a recent fabrication, it appears on the Wayback Machine for the first time on July 4, 2013.

According to the Daily Mail, Mike Pence was outraged by the attacks on Dr. Jackson and the fact that the attacks came from people associated with him:

A person with knowledge of the internal workings of the vice president’s office told DailyMail.com that Peña’s complaints were met with anger from Pence himself after the fallout sparked the beginning of the end for Jackson.

I’m counting down until the sexual discrimination complaint filed by Pena against Pence. Viva #TheResistance.