Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr., who made a name for himself as a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, reportedly withdrew his name for an assistant secretary position at the Department of Homeland Security.
The position was surrounded by a bit of controversy, with Clarke announcing a month ago that he was appointed to a position in Homeland Security, only for that department to contradict such a hiring then, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Craig Peterson, an adviser to Clarke, issued a statement saying that Clarke formally withdrew from being considered for an assistant secretary position on Friday with a letter to Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly.
"Sheriff Clarke is 100 percent committed to the success of President Trump and believes his skills could be better utilized to promote the president’s agenda in a more aggressive role," Peterson said in the statement, according to the Journal Sentinel.
"Sheriff Clarke told Secretary Kelly he is very appreciative of the tremendous opportunity the secretary was offering, and expressed his support for the secretary and the agency," the statement continued.
The Washington Post reported that Clarke's position, which was supposed to begin in late June, was subjected to "significant delays." The sheriff had been accused of plagiarism and had received negative attention for conditions at the Milwaukee County Jail where one mentally ill inmate died, the Post said.
The plagiarism charge was based on a May CNN report that reviewed Clarke's 2013 master's thesis where 47 examples were found in which Clarke used passages from sources and credited them with a footnote, without using quotation marks indicating that he took the language verbatim.
"Sheriff Clarke is no longer being considered for a position within DHS," said a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, per The Washington Post. "We wish him well."
Peterson told the Post that Clarke had met with Trump in Wisconsin last Tuesday to talk about positions in which the sheriff could help the president.
"The sheriff is reviewing options inside and outside of government," Peterson told the Post. "Sheriff Clarke told Secretary Kelly he is very appreciative of the tremendous opportunity the secretary was offering, and expressed his support for the secretary and the agency."
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