Posted on 06/24/2009 10:11:28 AM PDT by jazusamo
Allies and former colleagues of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service fired by President Obama, are mounting an aggressive defense of his integrity and competency.
A bipartisan group of 145 current and former public officials, U.S. attorneys and legal scholars signed a letter vouching for his competency. The June 23 letter was sent to White House Counsel Gregory Craig, as well as the chairmen and ranking members of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, the Senate Finance Committee and the House Government Oversight panel.
“We have known Gerald Walpin as a leading member of the New York Bar for many years,” they wrote. “Many of us have seen him and heard him speak including at this month’s meeting of the Second Circuit Judicial Conference and last week’s meeting of the Board of the Federal Bar Council.”
The letter was a response to White House Special Counsel Norman Eisen, who characterized Walpin as “confused, disoriented” and “unable to answer questions” during a May 20 meeting of the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service. Eisen made that charge in a letter to Sens. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), the chairman and ranking member of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.
Those who signed the letter include: former Attorney General Michael Mukasey; Bernard Nussbaum, President Clinton’s former counsel; former U.S. Attorneys Otto Obermaier, John Martin, Zachary Carter and Andrew Maloney; and six former and current presidents of the Federal Bar Council.
The missive is the latest salvo in the uproar over Walpin’s firing earlier this month.
His defenders argue his removal was politically motivated, and that Walpin is an effective watchdog who blew the whistle on the president’s friends and pet causes.
In early June, Obama dismissed Walpin, who was appointed to his position during the Bush administration. He had served as the inspector general for the federal agency that oversees volunteer programs such as AmeriCorps.
Walpin’s removal came after he had investigated St. Hope Academy, a California nonprofit that had received an $850,000 AmeriCorps grant. The nonprofit was run by former NBA star and Obama supporter Kevin Johnson, who is now the mayor of Sacramento.
Walpin’s report alleged that AmeriCorps funds were misused to supplement staff salaries, and for political purposes. Johnson and St. Hope eventually agreed to repay a substantial portion of the grant.
The U.S. attorney for the area, Lawrence Brown, did not pursue charges against Johnson, instead filing an ethics complaint against Walpin for overstepping his authority in his investigation of Johnson. An integrity committee for inspectors general has yet to rule on the complaint.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the ranking member of the Finance Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the most senior GOP member of the Government Oversight panel, have questioned the reasons for Walpin’s firing and the way in which he was dismissed. They are seeking communications between the White House, the Department of Justice’s criminal division and the Sacramento U.S. attorney’s office to determine whether the firing was politically motivated.
Boy, the SRM is going to have to do some serious burying to cover this turd and protect Bambi!
Obozo is the criminal perp who goes about uncheck.
It’d be great to see this come back and bite Zer0.
We can help out here for his removal and being patriotic at the same time!!!
I will send $10 out of today’s soc sec check towards a legal fund for Mr Walpin.
Please give me a correct address to send it to, if there is one.
Thanks.
Thanks and I’ll do the same. As of now I’m not aware of one but I’ll post info on this thread and ping should I become aware of one.
It is interesting how the MSM kept driving at the lawyer firings by the Bush admin to be investigated. But with this obviously political firing by Obama, the MSM tries to paint it like fringe groups are the only ones pushing for an investigation.
America has lost. We, as conservatives and (appearantly) the only defenders of this once great nation, need to see what can be salvaged from our eventual collapse from the rule of the ‘great’ telepromptor and the state-run media.
The Cloak of Transparency
Good. That changes the complexion from "he said / he said" as between Walpin & Brown, and as to the Corporation Board.
bump
I haven’t been able to find a fund either. If anyone does, please post!
“Damn” says obummer, “we always do this in Chicago, what’s the big deal?”
Yep! Zer0 is in for a surprise, anyone speaking out against this stuff in Chicago gets their leg broke but not in Washington.
BTTT
Some may end up in the Potomic wearing cement boots. He has installed his hoods in this administration.
Plus an earlier thread one of the Americorps Board members has now admitted that Walpin was fired to prevent a democrat scandal.
The comment I read is not in support of Walpin, nor is it even a hint of admission that the board was trying to prevent or bury a democrat scandal. In fact, it's the opposite. The general tenor is a self-serving, anti-Walpin sentiment, "he's wrongly attempting to keep old news of a properly settled issue alive, and we want to look ahead."
AmeriCorps Board Member--Walpin Was Fired For Political Reasons
"Right now, when there is such a great emphasis on service, we did not need any press out there on this St. HOPE matter, which was already settled," the board member told [Byron York]. "We thought he was going to use the press ... He had an issue with the fact that a settlement was reached ... and he was doing everything he could to continue to keep the issue at the forefront." ...But there is no doubt that, whatever the other reasons, the board feared that a revival of a scandal they thought was in the past would be embarrassing to the newly-prominent AmeriCorps.
The AmeriCorps board of directors is a problem here. So is the US Attorney's Office. I think this is typical when a politician (here; Johnson) is embroiled in the controversy. All these people serve at the pleasure of a politician, and they know which side their bread is buttered on. As far as I'm concerned, the whole lot of them is completely corrupt. GUILTY. Hiding something.
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