Posted on 10/29/2009 8:45:23 AM PDT by jazusamo
President Obama's nomination of a major campaign fundraiser as ambassador to Spain has been delayed in the Senate over questions about whether the White House is withholding information from lawmakers about the abrupt firing of a government watchdog official.
The nominee, Alan Solomont, served from April until recently as chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, whose former inspector general, Gerald Walpin, was fired by the White House on June 10. Mr. Solomont, a Massachusetts health industry entrepreneur, helped raise at least $500,000 for Mr. Obama's 2008 presidential campaign and was among a group of top fundraisers, elected officials and others invited to a St. Patrick's Day party at the White House.
Mr. Walpin has said that his firing came because of his investigation into Obama supporter and Sacramento, Calif., Mayor Kevin Johnson involving the misuse of hundreds of thousands of federal grant dollars by a nonprofit group, of which Mr. Johnson was executive director.
Republican Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, a leading whistleblower advocate who sits on the Senate Judiciary Committee, has requested records from the White House and the Corporation for National and Community Service about Mr. Walpin's firing.
But committee aides say that about half of the records provided so far, including several last week, include documents Mr. Grassley already had, redacted records, old press releases and newspaper articles. Among the records delivered to Mr. Grassley were documents related to his own requests for information.
"There's no justification for withholding information from Congress here," said Mr. Grassley, who has blocked Senate action by placing a "hold" on Mr. Solomont's nomination amid the dispute. "This administration talks a lot about openness and transparency, but the true test is in cases like this."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Obama and the White House talk big about transparency but their actions say otherwise.
The list, ping
New scum same as the old scum
I dunno...seems pretty clear—transparent—how corrupt they are.
Yep, you’ve got that right.
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