By Timothy M. Phelps, May 13, 2015, The Los Angeles Times
Atty Gen. Loretta Lynch reached into the ranks of top FBI administrators Tuesday for new leadership at the troubled Drug Enforcement Administration.
Former DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart was asked to resign last month due to dissatisfaction within the Obama administration over her handling of a scandal involving DEA agents hiring prostitutes and another incident in which agents forgot a detaintee in a cell for nearly five days with no food or water.
She had also long been at odds with former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. and President Obama over marijuana enforcement. Rosenberg is expected to improve the DEA’s procedures on classifying, declassifying and reclassifying drugs, the official said.
By Rebecca Kaplan, Apr. 21, 2015, CBS News
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administrator Michele Leonhart is stepping down. Attorney General Eric Holder in a statement, said that Leonhart had informed him Tuesday of her decision. She will leave the agency in mid-May.
Holder praised Leonhart, writing that she "led this distinguished agency with honor" and added that he was "proud to call her my partner in the work of safeguarding our national security and protecting our citizens from crime, exploitation and abuse."
He noted her 35 years of public service, saying, "She has devoted her life and her professional career to the defense of our nation and the protection of our citizens, and for that, I am deeply grateful."
Leonhart, who was confirmed to her position in December 2010 but has served in an acting capacity since November 2007, has presided over an agency that has been plagued by scandal in recent years. Just last month, a damning report from the Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General revealed that several DEA agents had engaged in "sex parties" with prostitutes paid for by Colombian drug cartels.
