Posted on 06/17/2009 4:09:55 PM PDT by pissant
Norman Eisen, the White House Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform, met with investigators on the staff of Republican Sen. Charles Grassley at Grassley's offices this morning. The investigators wanted to learn more about the circumstances surrounding the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin. According to Grassley, Eisen revealed very, very little, refusing to answer many questions of fact put to him. And now Grassley has written a letter to the White House counsel asking for answers.
The questions relate to a letter Eisen sent to some senators Tuesday night attributing Walpin's dismissal, in significant part, to Walpin's behavior at a May 20, 2009 board meeting of the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that oversees AmeriCorps. Eisen wrote that at the meeting, "Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve." After the meeting, Eisen wrote, Walpin lost the confidence of the Corporation Board. The White House conducted a review of the matter, and Walpin was fired. (For a detailed account of Walpin's reaction to the White House charges, see here.)
At today's meeting, Sen. Grassley's staffers wanted to know more about the White House review. "Unfortunately," Grassley writes in a letter just sent to White House counsel Gregory Craig, "Mr. Eisen refused to answer several direct questions posed to him about the representations made in his letter." Grassley says that since Eisen refused to answer the questions in person, Grassley would submit a dozen of them in writing. Here they are:
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
Lol.
Now Congress wants oversight?
It won’t matter
Only those with the most sterling of character will be chosen.
You know-people like Chris Dodd and Barney Frank.
Thats good!
And the press will leave him alone and accept that as his final answer... just like for Bush.
ping
Can you imagine if Bush had done this? The NY Slimes and every network would be all over this.
Grassley seems to be the only one at this point. See if a few more grow a spine.
So Obambi is refusing again to answer.
JAKE TAPPER’S BLOG:
TAPPER: OK. And just one other question. The — Senator Claire McCaskill yesterday expressed concern about the way in which President Obama fired the inspector general of the Corporation for National Community Service, saying that it did not abide by the law that McCaskill wrote and President Obama as a senator co-sponsored in terms of giving Congress 30 days notice. Do you think that the White House handled the firing of Inspector General Walpin appropriately and according to that law? And if so, why is the author of the law incorrect?
GIBBS: Well, I would direct you to the letter that Senator McCaskill received last night, addressed to Senators Lieberman and Collins, which outlined exactly the reasoning for the board’s — the bipartisan board’s request to change inspector generals.
TAPPER: I’ve seen the letter. The — the law that McCaskill wrote...
GIBBS: I’m not familiar with that part of what she’s saying. I would — again, I’d point you to the letter.
TAPPER: OK. Well, the law says that the president needs to give 30 days’ notice to Congress before an inspector general is terminated. So that letter came, whatever, five or six days after he was terminated.
GIBBS: Again, I’ll check into that. I mean, again, the board’s action was precipitated by a meeting that happened on May the 20th.
Running around screaming like their hair was on fire.
This White House and this country, soon the world (in his mind), is now ruled by Obama. His power is absolute and he needn't deign himself to answer questions from his subjects. Right now, he has the minds of the twisted, the perverted, the feeble and ignorant, the slothful and greedy, and those with 'progressive' (i.e, sick liberal taint) bents. What he doesn't have is those that sustain this country and form the foundation of its greatness.
Ultimately, if he hasn't let this country succumb to foreign nuclear or economic threats, these people will revolt.
The list, ping
Sotomayer’s confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee (of which Grassley is a member) should not start until a credible investigation has been completed regarding this illegal termination. The Repubs on the Senate Judiciary Committee can easily place “holds” on her confirmation to delay the process.
At the rate he’s going, he’ll nuke us before anybody else can.
Obama has broken a law. He can’t fire an inspector general without 30 days notice to Congress. Congress needs to hold him accountable (they won’t though). Can’t wait till 2010 and we can throw the bums out!
Those are good questions, but none of them go to the actual matter of KJ’s abuse of funds. I briefly saw Walpin on TV, and he made the point that the financial improprieties were raised and discovered by his subordinates, who were career auditors. He didn’t have an ongoing agenda; instead he was presented with findings which he had to evaluate and either reveal or suppress, depending on his evaluation of their credibility.
Missing from these questions are whether or not the findings will survive if Mr. Walpin departs, or if their survival and presentation sees light of day only at the pleasure of Walpin’s White House appointed successor, whose objectivity would be questionable.
It will be almost impossible for the GOP to even make it a campaign issue, because the majority of the idol worshiping, great unwashed won't even know what they're talking about.
What we have is fait accomplis, and it's been perpetrated by the thugs in the White House, it will be covered up by the Legislative branch and it will be ignored by the media. The Republic is dead.
Dear Leader does not give ‘answers’ to the ‘riff raff’. Haven’t you figured that out, yet? /s
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