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President Obama's aide failed to disclose $40K payout (shocker: from SEIU)
Politico ^ | 6-28-10 | Jake Sherman

Posted on 06/28/2010 6:30:39 PM PDT by STARWISE

President Barack Obama’s political director failed to disclose that he was slated to receive a nearly $40,000 payout from a large labor union while he was working in the White House.

Patrick Gaspard, who served as the political director for the Service Employees International Union local 1199, received $37,071.46 in “carried over leave and vacation” from the union in 2009, but he did not disclose the agreement to receive the payment on his financial disclosure forms filed with the White House.

In a section on his financial disclosure where agreements or arrangements for payment by a former employer must be disclosed, Gaspard checked a box indicating that he had nothing to report.

Bill Burton, a White House spokesman, told POLITICO Monday that Gaspard was in the process of correcting his disclosure form to reflect that he did in fact have an agreement for severance.

“We have made the small administrative change to this year's and last year's forms to indicate that part of the final payment to Patrick reflected their typical severance of one week of pay for each of his nine years of service at Local 1199 of SEIU,” Burton wrote POLITICO in an e-mailed statement.

Such financial disclosures are governed by federal law, but Stan Brand, a former House general counsel and ethics expert, said the Justice Department is unlikely to pursue an investigation unless they suspected a “knowing or willful” intent to deceive.

Gaspard’s omission is a potentially embarrassing episode for the Obama administration, which has made a high priority of ethics.

“They’ve made ethics a fetish and they have all kinds of people over there with experience, so I don’t know how they missed this one,” Brand said.

Gaspard spent nine years at 1199 SEIU, a major labor union in New York. Gaspard also worked for Obama’s campaign, and later worked for the transition team, where he earned $11,500, according to the financial disclosure form he filed this year. He was pulling a salary from SEIU until Jan. 16, 2009, shortly before Obama was inaugurated.

Gaspard, who made $172,200 in 2009, has from $35,000 to $80,000 in credit card debt and student loans, according to his financial disclosures.

This SEIU payout was first raised in early June by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top GOP lawmaker on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. He sent a letter to the White House asking for information about the payment. They have yet to respond


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Front Page News; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: corruption; corruptwhitehouse; cultureofcorrruption; democratcorruption; democrats; doh; gaspard; obama; obamacorruption; patrickgaspard; seiu; sowhatelseisnew; thugocracy; transparency; unioncorruption; unions
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To: Carling

Just a sidesplitter, isn’t it ?

They think we’re so stupid ..


41 posted on 06/28/2010 11:07:10 PM PDT by STARWISE ( The overlords are in place .. we are a nation under siege .. pray, go Galt & hunker down)
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To: STARWISE
Gaspard’s omission is a potentially embarrassing episode for the Obama administration, which has made a high priority of ethics.
How can anyone possibly write such a sentence without putting </sarcasm> after it?
42 posted on 06/28/2010 11:17:13 PM PDT by Bob
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To: STARWISE
Most transparent administration ever ..... ROFL!

Hoisted on their own gaspard.

43 posted on 06/28/2010 11:40:26 PM PDT by rfp1234
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To: bgill
Ping me when this is aired on CNN.

Yeah, on the newly-hired Client No. 9's show.

44 posted on 06/28/2010 11:42:55 PM PDT by rfp1234
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To: mellow velo

The dates listed in the story make it look like he was double dipping. How could he earn $172,200 in 2009 and “also worked for Obama’s campaign, and later worked for the transition team”? Most of his 2009 money must have come from White House job but still Obama was running for president in 2008.


45 posted on 06/29/2010 7:13:02 AM PDT by Tspud1
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