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A2 UP FRONT
Wednesday 19 June 2019

Shanahan drops bid to lead Pentagon, citing ‘painful’ past

Continued from Front before Trump announced good families ... and this is letter to Trump outlining a an obligation to reveal it
that Shanahan was with- a tragedy, really,” Shana- list of foreign policy differ- himself. This is potentially a
The acting defense secre- drawing his nomination, han told the Post. ences and a warning that violation of law.”
tary did not provide specif- Shanahan spoke about the In his statement, Shanahan the administration should Trump defended the vet-
ics, but court records show circumstances surrounding said he asked to be with- not allow relations with al- ting process, calling it
a volatile family history “great,” and said the Sha-
around the time of his 2011 nahan issues were “very
divorce. The couple had unfortunate,” and they
been married since 1986. “came up a little bit over
His ex-wife, Kimberley, was the last short period of
arrested several times on time.”
charges that included bur- Sen. James Inhofe, the
glary, property damage Oklahoma Republican who
and assault. The assault is chairman of the Senate
charge was a misdemean- Armed Services Commit-
or for domestic violence in tee, said Trump called him
August 2010 when, accord- about Shanahan on Tues-
ing to police records, she day. The president didn’t
hit Shanahan a number of offer any specifics, Inhofe
times, giving him a bloody said, but mentioned “alle-
nose and black eye. The gations that would be very
police report said she was uncomfortable and really
not injured, and he was not not worth making sacrifices
charged. for.”
There was also a separate Shanahan, a former Boeing
November 2011 incident executive, has been lead-
in which the couple’s son, ing the Pentagon as act-
who was 17 at the time, ing secretary since Jan. 1,
struck his mother with a a highly unusual arrange-
baseball bat in the home In this April 2, 2019, file photo, Secretary of the Army Mark Esper speaks during a House Armed ment for arguably the most
where he lived with her in Services Committee budget hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. President Donald Trump on sensitive Cabinet position.
June 18, named Esper as acting Defense Secretary.
Sarasota, Florida, accord- Associated Press His prospects for confirma-
ing to court records. He tion have been spotty due
pleaded guilty to battery his 2011 divorce and said drawn from the nomination lies to fray. in large part to questions
and was sentenced to four he didn’t want to drag his process and would work on Shanahan was put in place about his lengthy work as
years of probation. children through the expe- an “appropriate transition.” as acting secretary, but it former Boeing executive
In an interview with The rience again. The Pentagon, in a state- wasn’t until May that Trump and persistent questions
Washington Post shortly “Bad things can happen to ment, said Esper will take announced he would nom- about possible conflicts of
over the job at midnight inate Shanahan. That for- interest.
Sunday. Esper and Shana- mal nomination has never The Defense Department’s
han met at length Tuesday come, inexplicably delay- Inspector General cleared
to begin transition plan- ing the Senate process. Shanahan of any wrong-
ning. On Capitol Hill, the Sha- doing in connection with
In his tweet, Trump simply nahan news was met with accusations he had shown
said Shanahan had done mixed reactions. favoritism toward Boeing
“a wonderful job” but Top Democrats said his during his time as deputy
would step aside to “de- sudden withdrawal under- defense secretary, while
vote more time to his fam- scores the shortcomings of disparaging Boeing com-
ily.” Later, Trump told re- White House vetting for key petitors.
porters at the White House Trump administration jobs. In Shanahan’s tenure at the
that he heard about the Senate Minority Leader department he’s had to
problems for the first time Chuck Schumer said Tues- deal with a wide array of in-
Monday. day that “this Shanahan ternational hotspots, rang-
“I didn’t ask him to with- fiasco” shows that the ing from missile launches by
draw, but he walked in this administration’s national North Korea to the sudden
morning,” said Trump. “He security policy is “a sham- shift of military ships and air-
said it’s going to be a rough bles.” craft to the Middle East to
time for him because of ob- Senators said they were deal with potential threats
viously what happened.” largely unaware of allega- from Iran.
In noting Esper’s move, tions involving Shanahan’s Shanahan, 56, had exten-
Trump added, “I know family situation when he sive of experience in the
Mark, and have no doubt was confirmed as deputy defense industry but little in
he will do a fantastic job!” defense secretary in 2017. government. In more than
He said it’s “most likely” he Democratic Sen. Richard six months as the acting
will nominate Esper for the Blumenthal raised the pos- secretary, he emphasized
job “pretty soon.” sibility that Shanahan de- a shift from the resources
The post atop the Penta- liberately concealed the and tactics required to
gon has not been filled domestic problems, and he fight small wars against ex-
permanently since retired called for an investigation tremist groups to what Sha-
Gen. James Mattis abruptly by the Defense Depart- nahan called “great pow-
stepped down in Decem- ment’s inspector general. er” competition with China
ber after delivering a blunt Shanahan, he said, “had and Russia.q