WASHINGTON (AP) — Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan resigned Tuesday before his formal nomination passed to the Senate, claiming that a “painful” family situation would harm his children and reopen “wounds that have taken years to heal.” President Donald Trump announced the resignation in a tweet, and said Army Secretary Mark Esper would be the Pentagon’s new interim chief.
“I think that continuing the confirmation process would force my three children to relive a traumatic episode in our family’s lives and reopen wounds that it took us years to heal,” Shanahan, 56, said in a statement. “At the end of the day, your safety and well-being is my top priority.”
His resignation from one of the most crucial positions in government at a time of rising tensions in the Middle East was announced a day after the United States authorized to send additional troops to the region, and after months of unexplained delays in the process of Confirmation. The acting secretary of defense did not provide details, but court records show a very unstable family history related to her divorce in 2011. The couple married 1986.Su ex-wife, Kimberley, was arrested several times on charges including theft of other people’s property, property damage and assault. The assault charge was a misdemeanor for domestic violence in August 2010 when, according to police records, he struck Shanahan several times, causing a nosebleed and a bruise on his eye. The police report says she wasn’t injured, and he didn’t face charges.
FILE – In this 2019 Abroil photo, U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper speaks at a Congressional hearing in Washington. President Donald Trump appointed Esper as acting Secretary of Defense on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
There was a different incident in November 2011 in which the couple’s 17-year-old son hit his mother with a baseball bat at the house where he lived with her in Sarasota, Florida, according to court records. He pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to four years’ probation. In an interview with The Washington Post shortly before Trump announced that Shanahan would withdraw his nomination, he spoke about the circumstances of his divorce and said he did not want to drag his children back through that experience.” Bad families can have bad things. and this is really a tragedy,” Shanahan told the Post. The Pentagon indicated in a statement that Esper will take over the post at midnight Sunday. Esper and Shanahan met for a long time on Tuesday to begin planning the transition. In his tweet, Trump simply says That Shanahan had done a “wonderful job” but will resign “to devote more time to his family.” Later, the representative told reporters that only on Monday he learned of the problems.” I didn’t ask him to retire, but he came to see me this morning,” Trump said. “He said he was going to have a hard time, obviously because of what happened.” And, highlighting Esper’s appointment, Trump added, “I know Mark and I have no doubt he’s going to do a fantastic job!” He said it was “very likely” that he would nominate him for the post “very soon.” The highest-ranking position at the Pentagon has not been permanently filled since retired General James Mattis abruptly resigned in December after sending a candid letter to Trump enlisting a number of foreign policy differences and warning him that the government should not allow relations with allies to deteriorate.
