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.”
So true.
I fixed it for you.
Ubama has Congress and the Democrat newsrooms in his pocket. That slimy p.o.s. can literally do and get away with anything he wants.
Have a nice day.
AMEN!! This is just showing the thug-side of obamanation..
Walpin said the White House called him “confused” and “disoriented” for lack of a legitimate reason for the termination, ===
aka he wouldn’t lie down like a whipped dog and simply drink the kool ade. obamanation is becoming more and more like Chicago Crime101.
What happened to the money? obamanation knows!
They’ll start w/an IRS visit for Walpin. Don’t know what’s up w/Linda Tripp.
Yup, they will say that Walpin is a senile old racist.
I wouldn’t bet against another Obamacide to silence the problem.
I'm just making an observation. Not agreeing or disagreeing with what the Republicans are doing.
Won't happen, he's already out in public.
“I do know the facts to my termination,” said Walpin. “I did my job as I was supposed to do it, honestly reporting on facts and conclusions that my staff, who are career civil servants had discovered [and] had reported to me.”
“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.” “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.”
If he said all these things without reading from a document or a teleprompter, he sounds to me to be quite rational and lucid, in contravention of the character assassinations made against him by the white house.
With Obama having as many as 28 Czars, you'd think Congress would be itching for a good excuse to knock Obama down a few notches -- to get some of their power back, if nothing else.
... the fact that Obama broke the law while doing the firing ... well, that should concern Congress, too, but I'll take what I can get with that bunch ...
Where is the left and all their OUTRAGE over a President acting above the LAW?.... Where is left? Where is the Left. Hypocrisy calling Leftists in America... Hypocrisy calling...
This country is so screwed right now its a real chame.
I remember when Gingrich had a set and would skewer a dem who was a p.o.s.
Then even HE became a punk for the cameras.
Senile because he is in his 70's, and racist because he was opposing Obama.
Ok, and I was just making one also:)
PICTURE BUMP
When McCaskill first spoke out, I figured that she was such an early and enthusiastic supporter of Obama, that she was just going to provide cover for Walpin's firing.
Looks like I was absolutely right.
What a tool.
“Stand up, sit down, FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT!!!!!”
That is the most convoluted sentence I have read in a long time.
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