President Barack Obama (AP Photo)
Posted on 06/22/2009 2:48:23 PM PDT by BP2
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) is seeking information from AmeriCorps about the Walpin firing. The top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee is also seeking information on documents that had allegedly been withheld from Neil Barofsky, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Assets Relief Program (SIGTARP), the $700-billion financial bailout package launched last fall.
Grassley this week also filed a request for all documents that might demonstrate what role the office of First Lady Michelle Obama played in the firing of Walpin, if any. The First lady’s former chief of staff, Jackie Norris, is expected to join AmeriCorps as the senior adviser next week. (See Previous Story.)
Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is asking the administration to provide more information on the AmeriCorps matter.
Regarding his case, Walpin would like to see a congressional investigation to lay out all the facts.
“I would very much like for the American public to know all the facts, instead of how it has so far not been disclosed in response to Sen. Grassley’s and Congressman Issa’s letters,” Walpin said in an interview. “My view is that – as with Teddy Roosevelt – that sunshine is the best disinfectant. I think it is terrible what happened here to the IG, the institution as a whole."
"My firing has a chilling effect on other IGs," he said. "The best way to handle that--aside from President Obama admitting that he made a mistake--is to have a congressional hearing so that all facts can be put out for the public to see.”
He said that he believed the Democratic majority in Congress would support an investigation.
“I have great hopes that Democrats, like Republicans, believe in the integrity of the system and believe that the IG system must be protected,” he said. “I have hopes. I hope they won’t disappoint me.”
An independent office?
The Treasury Department has asked the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel to clarify the special inspector general’s legal status within the executive branch.
In April, Barofsky sent a memo to the Treasury regarding the DOJ inquiry, addressing the issues of attorney-client privilege and whether the special inspector general is subject to supervision by the Treasury Department.
“SIGTARP does not object to your plan to seek guidance from the OLC, however, as discussed below, SIGTARP believes the Emergency Economic Stability Act of 2008 provides SIGTARP is an independent entity within the Treasury, that SIGTARP is not subject to the secretary’s supervision, and that attorney-client privilege is not a bar to access to Treasury’s records or information,” Barofsky wrote. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dismissed any connection regarding the AmeriCorps firing and the TARP matter.
“The president believes that inspectors general fulfill a unique and important role in ensuring that programs operate with efficiency,” Gibbs told reporters during the daily briefing on Friday. “No attorney-client privilege has ever been evoked. No documents sought have been withheld. The DOJ review is not related to a particular investigation. It is sorting out the legal issues relating to the creation of this office.”
He added, “We have outlined the reasons why the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service was not retained.”
Gibbs later responded to a question as to whether someone could infer a trend with the Obama administration and inspectors general.
“If they inferred it, it would be an incorrect inference,” Gibbs told CNSNews.com.
‘Desperation’
Walpin said the White House called him “confused” and “disoriented” for lack of a legitimate reason for the termination.
“I think it’s absolutely desperation on their part,” Walpin said. “The first reason they gave me for my termination was that the president thought I ought to move on. The second reason the president expressed was that he lost confidence in me. That was in a letter to Congress. Of course that’s not a reason, that’s a conclusion.”
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that oversees inspectors general, was the lead sponsor of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008, which Obama co-sponsored as a senator. The law requires that the president give Congress 30-days notice before dismissing an inspector general and provide Congress with an explanation of why such action is necessary. Initially, Obama only told congressional leaders he lost confidence in Walpin.
McCaskill, in a statement last week, said the White House did not offer a sufficient explanation under the law. So that same day, White House Counsel Norman Eisen sent a letter to the Homeland Security Committee providing further reasons.
“Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation,” Eisen wrote. “The board’s action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009 board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve.”
In regard to claims he was confused, Walpin said: “Well, I can only say to you that those are code words for a desperation attack on somebody who is--I’m not a young man, I’ll be 78 in September--those are code words to suggest or imply that I’m senile.”
“This is desperation. They never believed I would do anything but resign to avoid the mud that is thrown at somebody who stands up to the most powerful person in this country,” Walpin said. “I did this as a matter of principle. I believed that I could not look myself in the mirror if I gave in.”
No one with the agency or the administration contacted him about being disoriented or his job performance, Walpin said.
“Let’s assume they’re even right--which I say is not correct--they and the corporation have met with me hundreds of times,” Walpin said. “Not one occasion have they ever said anything but that I’m very eloquent. Indeed, on the Tuesday before I was fired, one of the top management people in the corporation begged me to go out to San Francisco and speak to 2,0000 members of their staff and grantees at a conference because they thought my ability to speak was so great.”
Last Wednesday, after the White House released Eisen's letter further explaining the president's firing of Walpin, Sen. McCaskill issued a statement, in which she said that the White House's explanation for the removal of Walpin seemd "well-founded," while suggesting that Congress "undertake any further review that might be necessary."
“Last night, in response to my request for adequate information on the firing of Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service Gerald Walpin, the White House submitted a letter to Senators Lieberman and Collins that now puts the White House in full compliance with the notice requirement in the law," said Sen. McCaskill.
"The next step for Congress is to use the 30 days provided by the notice to seek further information and undertake any further review that might be necessary," said Sen. McCaskill. "The reasons given in the most recent White House letter are substantial and the decision to remove Walpin appears well founded.”
Obama’s party controls Congress.
Even if they do call hearings (which is unlikely), they’re not going to find the Messiah has done anything wrong.
ROTFLMAO. Congress Critters from either party rarely allow honesty to get in the way of their pork, and when it's Democrat politicians, those in the way can fully expect to be slaughtered and not a whimper will escape to the rest of the heard. Sorry Mr. Walprin. After 78 years of being a loyal Democrat, they have decided that you are now 'inconvenient.'
ABCSeeBSNBC will promptly assign your story to the memory hole and it will be just like you never existed.
LOL. That just means more pork for the Critters. Congress loves Czars as long as they can suck up to them and Czars love Congress as long as it's full of willing suckers.
With the type of nauseating pomposity Obama displays, almost always with this ultra-arrogant type, something hidden from the public pops up and ruins their credibility.
We can only hope when it happens impeachment quickly follows — the problem is getting enough votes for approval of impeachment implementation.
That won't work because the office isn't a solo operation. The IG for the Corporation for National and Community Service is head of a team that goes by the acronym "CNCSOIG". The team has about 35 total members. Oversight will continue, just under a new boss, and for now, under an interim or acting boss.
It is. So is the evidence of corruption that Walpin's group is investigating in NYC, to the tune of 75 million dollars.
Sunlight is the best disinfectant and Obama opposes transparency because he knows it will cure the epidemic of corruption that he inspires.
The donkeys are in complete control and nothing is going to be happen to BO. Media Whores are with him and everything will be covered up. It’s going to have to be so huge NO one can cover it...
If that is all that he has in his arsenal, he is so screwed!
No, sorry, I don’t..if you give me a pic maybe i cabn try to photoshop it for you...I’m just a beginner but wil give it a shot. I need the practice anyway, The ones I dropped on here were from other freepers and they said I could “borrow”...but I think the guy in the wedding gown actually WAS tryig to escape from Iraq...to be honest I was laughing too hard and can’t remember if it wasscuttlebutt or not.
Ostammer and his thugs will give Walpin and the rest of the people mentioned the finger as they do on everything else. Then the pussy Republicans will just bend over and take it, as usual.
Walpin has the advantage of age and experience. And PR savvy, as it turns out. He’s played this much to his own advantage. Most bureaucrats would have taken their comfy federal pension and retired.
Sen. McCaskill comes off as a total whore. And the Obama White House .. well what more need be said, it’s the Chicago Mob’s home away from home.
And right you are. This is a distinction that most people either miss, or simply don't understand, which proves to me that Mr. Walpin is not only sharp as a tack, but is in full control of his mental faculties. I wouldn't want him breathing down my neck if I've got something to hide. If Walpin keeps pushing this with the clarity and conviction he has shown so far, Obama may be in some real trouble here, especially since a pattern is emerging.
Yes, remember Joe the plumber...
No question about it
That graphic breaks my heart.
yeah but with this congress in the pocket of Obama, how far will it really go?
My understanding is Walpin is a staunch democrat and liberal. He firmly supported Obama for president.
The American Left is just as silent when millions of Cambodians were killed by The American Left’s Ally the Communist Khmer Rouge. The American Left was silent then and The American Left is silent now. The silence is stunning!
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