ABC News(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Mike Pence’s personal physician, Dr. Jennifer Pena, who privately raised concerns about White House physician Ronny Jackson’s conduct last fall, resigned Friday, according to the White House.
Pena has not responded to an ABC request for comment.
The Vice President’s office was not involved in the decision, a source familiar with her resignation said.
“The Vice President’s office was informed today by the White House Medical Unit of the resignation,” the Vice President’s spokesperson, Alyssa Farah, told ABC News in a statement. “Physicians assigned to the Vice President report to the White House Medical Unit and thus any resignation would go entirely through the Medical Unit, not the Vice President’s office.”
Pena alleged that Jackson may have violated privacy protections for the vice president’s wife, Karen Pence, which resulted in intimidating and angry behavior by Jackson, in written memos obtained by CNN.
A White House official confirmed to ABC News that Vice President Pence’s chief of staff, Nick Ayers, brought the concerns of the vice president’s physician to the attention of chief of staff John Kelly last fall.
Ayers also advised the physician to bring concerns through the proper channels at the White House Medical Unit.
Farah told ABC News that the physician “brought the issue to Mr. Ayers, who appropriately referred the matter to the proper channels.”
Farah said Mrs. Pence “has been briefed on all the facts related to a private matter regarding her health care. She is grateful for the professional care she received from all White House medical personnel who resolved the matter quickly. She considers the matter closed and has no further comment on the situation.”
Jackson, who recently withdrew his nomination to head up the Veterans Administration amid swirling allegations involving workplace misconduct, did not return to his role as President Donald Trump’s personal doctor, a White House source confirmed to ABC News last week.
Jackson, a Navy rear admiral, rejoined the White House as a member of its medical unit staff, but the president’s current physician, Navy officer Sean Conley, who took over the role in anticipation of Jackson’s confirmation process, remains as Trump’s doctor, a White House source confirmed.
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