Allegations of domestic abuse dogged Shanahan
Trump announced that Patrick Shanahan will no longer seek the role and that Secretary of the Army Mark Esper will be the new Acting Secretary of Defense.
"His wife was arrested after punching him in the face, and his son was arrested after a separate incident in which he hit his mother with a baseball bat. Public disclosure of the nearly decade-old episodes would re-traumatize his young adult children, Shanahan said.
His 17-year old son reportedly beat his mother with a bat in 2011 while his wife was arrested in 2010.
Shanahan defended his son at the time, saying his wife had harassed him for nearly three hours. He later said there could never be justification for assault with a baseball bat. She was hospitalized after the attack and underwent surgery for a fractured skull and elbow.
