June 21, 2012 – With a potentially explosive report on federal fisheries law enforcement abuses on his desk, Commerce Secretary John Bryson has resigned under a legal and medical cloud emanating from a series of June 9 traffic collisions that occurred as he drove alone in suburban Los Angeles.
Bryson, 68, has described the cause of the collisions to a "seizure," but the toxicology report on his blood has not been released.
After the collisions which caused minor damage to his and two other autos, police said Bryson faced possible hit-and-run charges. He was found unconscious behind the wheel of his Lexus.
His press office has said he had been undergoing tests but declined to say where. Bryson told President Obama of his decision and memorialized the conversation in writing on Wednesday.
He leaves office with a lengthy set of case studies into NOAA law enforcement abuses on his desk — abuses carried out at the expense of Gloucester and other New England fishermen.
A previous report, also produced by Special Judicial Master Charles B. Swartwood III, was heavily redacted by the previous Commerce Secretary before it was released in May 2011. It came with a secretarial apology to 11 fishing industry business owners and more than $600,000 in reparations.
Read the full story at the Gloucester Times.