DEA chief to retire amid scandal

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

The embattled head of the Drug Enforcement Administration said Tuesday that she plans to retire after three decades with the agency, an announcement that came amid mounting pressure for her resignation from members of Congress who questioned her handling of misconduct allegations against agents.

Michele Leonhart, a career drug agent who has led the agency since 2007 and was the second woman to hold the job, had been widely criticized for her response to a scathing government watchdog report detailing allegations that agents attended sex parties with prostitutes in a foreign country.

After Leonhart appeared last week before the House Oversight Committee to respond to an inspector general’s allegations that the agents had received lenient punishments, most lawmakers on the panel announced that they had lost confidence in her. She also was criticized as being “woefully unable to change” the agency’s culture.