Acting DEA head Rosenberg announces resignation

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Chuck Rosenberg, the acting head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, emailed staffers Tuesday announcing he is resigning from the post.

Rosenberg's reason for leaving the agency was not reported, but it comes two months after he emailed DEA employees to reject comments President Donald Trump made about police use of force on suspects.

"When you see these thugs being thrown into the back of a paddy wagon -- you just see them thrown in, rough," Trump said on July 28 during a speech in Selden, N.Y. "I said, 'Please don't be too nice.'"

Rosenberg sent a memo saying the "core values" of the DEA were "Rule of Law, Respect and Compassion, Service, Devotion, Integrity, [and] Accountability."

"We have an obligation to speak out when something is wrong," he wrote. "This is how we conduct ourselves. This is how we treat those whom we encounter in our work: victims, witnesses, subjects, and defendants. This is who we are."

Unnamed law enforcement officials told The New York Times on Tuesday that Rosenberg felt Trump had little respect for the law.

Before becoming acting administrator of the DEA in May 2015 during the Obama administration, Rosenberg served as chief of staff for FBI Director James Comey.