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USNews:'Yippee Ki-yay!' DEA's Leonhart Prepares to Resign, Reformers Rejoice

Critics want a replacement who isn't 'another anti-marijuana fanatic.

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2015/04/21/yippee-ki-yay-deas-leonhart-prepares-to-resign-reformers-rejoice



Michele Leonhart, the longtime leader of the Drug Enforcement Administration, is reportedly preparing to resign after nearly two dozen House lawmakers questioned her competence in handling an agency sex scandal.

Twenty-two members of the House oversight committee, including the panel’s Republican and Democratic leaders, said last week they had lost confidence in her leadership after the revelation that DEA agents weren't fired for participating in sex parties involving prostitutes that were paid for by drug cartel members.

The resounding bipartisan expression of “no confidence” appears to have succeeded where pot advocates' campaign against "insubordination" failed last year, after she criticized her boss, President Barack Obama, for his position that smoking pot is less harmful than drinking alcohol.

The controversial anti-drug leader's departure will, perhaps most significantly, remove a major voice against more liberal marijuana policies.

[EARLIER: Committee Declares 'No Confidence' in DEA Leader]

Leonhart is well-known for refusing to say pot is less dangerous than heroin or crack cocaine. Under her leadership, the DEA has supported marijuana’s Schedule I classification, which limits research into the drug’s medicinal benefits and keeps doctor-recommended use illegal under federal law, even in states that allow it. The classification can be changed administratively or with legislation.

The distance between her positions and those of her superiors became increasingly clear as Obama and the Justice Department allowed states to regulate recreational marijuana sales despite the drug’s illegality under federal law.

“Yippee Ki-yay!” Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., told U.S. News after hearing Leonhart plans to resign in the near future, as reported by CNN and CBS News.

“She refused to acknowledge meth, crack, heroin and cocaine are the drugs that are killing Americans and forcing people to steal to feed their habits and [that they are] more dangerous than marijuana … and instead pursued marijuana equally as aggressively,” he says.

[READ: Leonhart Fumes About White House Playing Softball With Pot Legalizers]

“She repudiated publicly the president’s positions and has been an atrocious administrator, allowing sex parties and fabrications to go on in the office,” Cohen says, expressing hope Obama will appoint a replacement with “a 21st century perspective.”

Mason Tvert, a spokesman for the pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project, says he hopes Obama will “avoid making the mistake of replacing her with yet another anti-marijuana fanatic.”

“Whoever takes her place,” Tvert says, “must be willing and able to recognize the fact that marijuana is less harmful than alcohol and other drugs.”

The sex scandal that doomed Leonhart was exposed in March by the inspector general of the Department of Justice, which found agents were given slaps on the wrist after attending the drug cartel-funded sex parties.

[ALSO: Pot Reformers Aren't Afraid of Anti-Legalization Loretta Lynch ]

Indignant members of the House oversight committee railed against Leonhart’s response to the misbehavior before issuing their statement against her. None of the agents involved was fired and some were promoted. Those who were sanctioned received suspensions of between one and 10 days.

A DEA spokeswoman could not confirm Leonhart’s reported resignation plans Tuesday afternoon, nor could a spokeswoman for the oversight committee. A White House spokesman deferred to the Justice Department, a spokesman for which did not respond to requests for comment.

Leonhart has led the DEA since 2007, first as acting administrator before Obama appointed her and the Senate confirmed her to the position in 2010. Despite the good news for reformers, another anti-marijuana legalization Obama appointee, Loretta Lynch, is poised for a Senate confirmation vote to lead the Justice Department, DEA's parent agency.

Update (6 p.m.):

Attorney General Eric Holder characterized the departure as a retirement in a late Tuesday afternoon statement, saying Leonhart will leave the DEA in mid-May.

“Michele has led this distinguished agency with honor, and I have been proud to call her my partner in the work of safeguarding our national security and protecting our citizens from crime, exploitation and abuse,” he said.

“Over the past decade, under her leadership, there have been innumerable instances of the DEA dismantling the most violent and most significant drug trafficking organizations and holding accountable the largest drug kingpins around the world,” Holder said. “I wish my good friend Michele all the best as she embarks on this next chapter in what is a remarkable life.”

Leaders of the House oversight committee were less charitable.

“In light of the DOJ Inspector General’s report and the testimony we heard before our committee, Ms. Leonhart’s retirement is appropriate,” Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, and ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., said in a joint statement.

“With the opportunity now for fresh leadership, we are hopeful that the DEA can restore itself to an agency of distinction and excellence,” they said. “The IG’s report exposed the bad behavior that was allowed to fester for more than a decade, and our Committee’s hearing shined a spotlight on the lack of accountability for these abuses. This process is strong evidence of how proper and bipartisan oversight can lead to a better functioning government for the citizens it serves.”