Trump's Choice To Be Navy Secretary Withdraws

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President Trump's nominee to be secretary of the Navy has withdrawn. He said this on Sunday that he was withdrawing from consideration for the post.

In a statement released by the Pentagon, Philip Bilden he determined that he would not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without what he called "undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family's private financial interests."

Rumors of Bilden's withdrawal had been widely reported in recent days, but were denied by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The Pentagon also issued a statement Feb. 19 saying that Bilden had assured Mattis he remained committed to serving as Navy secretary if confirmed by the Senate and that Mattis was confident Bilden was "the right leader" to rebuild the Navy and Marine Corps.

Bilden was an intelligence officer in the Army Reserve from 1986-1996. He relocated to Hong Kong to set up an Asian presence for HarbourVest Partners LLC, a global private equity management firm. Bilden recently retired from HarbourVest Partners after 25 years. Well....