Washington Post reports “Acting Drug Enforcement Administration head Chuck Rosenberg, a veteran attorney and law enforcement official who has found himself at odds with the Trump administration in recent months, told staff members Tuesday he is planning to step down from his post in less than a week.
His departure is not completely surprising; President Trump has always been expected to nominate someone of his own choosing to lead the nation’s premier agency on narcotics enforcement.
Rosenberg, a former U.S. attorney and senior counselor to then-FBI Director James B. Comey, who had been running the agency in an acting capacity since 2015, had earned a reputation as someone willing to put himself at odds with his bosses in the White House and the Justice Department.
It was not immediately clear who would replace Rosenberg, although people with knowledge of internal discussions said Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, the head of the New Jersey State Police, was thought to be a leading contender. A state police spokesman declined to comment. Other s have also been discussed, according to people familiar with the deliberations.” Read more HERE.
New York Times reports “The acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration will resign at the end of the week, according to law enforcement officials, who said he had become convinced that President Trump had little respect for the law.
The official, Chuck Rosenberg, who twice served as chief of staff to the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey and remains a close confidant, had grown disillusioned with Mr. Trump.
“We must earn and keep the public trust and continue to hold ourselves to the very highest standards,” Mr. Rosenberg wrote in the internal email. “Ours is an honorable profession and, so, we will always act honorably.”
Mr. Trump has injected the White House into law enforcement matters in ways that have made many career officials uncomfortable.
In a message to D.E.A. employees on Tuesday, Mr. Rosenberg said, “The neighborhoods in which we live are better for your commitment to the rule of law, dedication to the cause of justice and perseverance in the face of adversity.”’ Read more HERE.
njadvancemedia.com reports “Col. Rick Fuentes, the long-serving superintendent of the New Jersey State Police, is in the running to head the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, sources tell NJ Advance Media.
The potential move was first reported by The Washington Post, which said Fuentes was “a leading contender” for the job after acting DEA administrator Chuck Rosenberg announced to staff he would step down.
Two sources in state and federal government with knowledge of the situation told NJ Advance Media that Fuentes was being actively considered for the post in President Donald Trump‘s administration.
However, no decision has been made, according to both sources, who were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and requested anonymity.
Reached by phone, Fuentes spokesman Capt. Brian Polite declined to comment on the potential move. State Attorney General Christopher Porrino did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.
Fuentes, 66, has made several trips to Washington, D.C. in the first year of the Trump administration, even presenting the president with an honorary State Police badge in a private meeting in the Oval Office in May.
The colonel also has critics among the ranks of the State Police, an elite but often secretive organization where infighting frequently bubbles over into lawsuits and internal affairs investigations can stretch on for years.
Frustration with his leadership broke into public in 2011, when the largest troopers union, the State Troopers Fraternal Association, took a vote of no confidence.
But Fuentes has also proven a survivor in the rough-and-tumble world of New Jersey state government, outlasting three governors and eight attorneys general, a trait that could serve him well in the tumultuous Trump administration.” Read more HERE.
Commentary
The fox guarding the henhouse? Another New Jersey consideration for the Trump administration? Is Governor Christie “getting his ducks in a row” to shield and protect his egregious cover ups and official corruption?
The previous Governor Jon Corzine’s pattern continues as Governor Christie “walks in his shoes.”
A letter was faxed on June 4, 2007 to Governor Jon Corzine and cc’d to State Police Superintendent Col. Joseph Fuentes.
Excerpt from letter “I learned from the news media that Assembly Republicans have called upon you to convene a special legislative session on ethics reform as your state has reached “a critical mass of corruption” with an “unprecedented” number of criminal charges leveled at public officials including, but not limited to, current or former local officials in North Jersey. Please take heed of Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce’s statements to the press that “you can’t make this stuff up”, that “doing nothing is no longer an option.” Your spokesman, Anthony Coley stated to the media that “we have been working with the Legislature to have a more honest, open and transparent government and will continue to do so.”
” I called upon your intervention, in December 2006, into the failure/refusal of law enforcement in the State of New Jersey to investigate (a suspicious, untimely and unattended) death (drug related) and that you take action in demanding the initiation of a full investigation.”
In agreement with Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce’s statements to the press that “you can’t make this stuff up”, that “doing nothing is no longer an option.” It’s apparent that this “option” is still “on the table.”
In “draining the swamp”, will President Trump clean out “the henhouse” too?
The Unmasking of Maine....and Beyond 