Posted on 06/16/2009 9:25:45 PM PDT by pissant
WASHINGTON -- Responding to criticism from a Senate Democratic ally, President Obama explained why he fired the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps without the 30-day notification required by law, calling Gerald Walpin so "confused" and "disoriented" that there was reason to question "his capacity to serve."
In a letter to the bipartisan leaders of the Senate Committee that oversees AmeriCorps, Obama listed these alleged defects in Walpin's leadership as an Inspector General.
* Removed after unanimous request from the AmeriCorps board of directors
* At May, 20, 2009, board meeting Walpin "was confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions and exhibited behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve."
* The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California complained about Walpin's conduct to the IG oversight board and alleged he withheld exculpatory evidence.
* Walpin had "been absent from the Corporation's headquarters, insisting upon working from his home in New York over the objection" of the board.
* He "exhibited a lack of candor in providing material information to decision makers."
* He "engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct."
* He "had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
That is truly disgusting!
******
Elizabeth A. Coleman
Elizabeth A. Coleman was appointed Inspector General for the Board effective May 6, 2007. In this role, Ms. Coleman leads a staff responsible for promoting economy, efficiency,and effectiveness within Board programs and operations. The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is also responsible for preventing and detecting waste, fraud, and abuse at the Board, among other duties. The OIG achieves its legislative mandate through audits, evaluations, investigations, legislative reviews, and by keeping the Chairman of the Board and Congress fully informed.
Ms. Coleman joined the Board’s OIG in 1989 as a senior auditor. She was promoted to program manager in 1999 and to senior program manager in 2001. She was appointed to the official staff in 2004, as the Assistant Inspector General for Communications and Quality Assurance. Over the last eight years, Ms. Coleman has worked closely with the Executive Council on Integrity and Efficiency, a professional organization of about thirty statutory Inspectors General who are appointed by their agency heads in certain designated federal entities, including the Board.
Prior to joining the Board’s staff, she was employed by the Government Accountability Office.
exactly right, I saw him on fox Business today, Walpin is very coherent and smart..
Bob, Walpin was investigating misuse of AmeriCorps funds. What their BOD think is irrelevant - they shouldn’t be able to fire the investigator if they don’t like the fact that he is investigating their organization. The fact that Zero listed this point first reveals just how out of touch with ethics he really is. Inspector Generals cannot be fired based on the whims of organizations they investigate - if Obummer sticks with this, he’ll ended up burnt toast.
Byron York has done a nice job of reporting this story:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Will-Democrats-cover-up-the-AmeriCorps-mess-48112457.html
Nope. Very sharp. I hope he can stand up under the pressure coming his way.
Pathetic, of course they kept John Bolton from being confirmed for being mean, so this is par for the course - so often the intangible qualities are used to discredit those they wish to destroy.
AmeriCorps is nothing more than a money laundering front group for the Democrat party. They are nothing more than community rabble rousers like ACORN. ACORN registers the voters, and AmeriCorps raises the funds.
You get an extra scoop
I think you have exposed the emperor, he has no clothes. You are right.
OOOOOOHHHHH, two points for the cool reference.
You are the king until dethroned.
Yeah, the truly smart ones in the room get labeled the “doddering old fools” by the Democrat party’s “best and brightest”.
I wonder if these board members are political appointees by Obama, or if there are any holdovers from the Bush years?
I also heard Walpin on Laura Ingraham and saw part of his appearance on Glenn Beck. Seemed alert and sharp to me, and a little baffled by what had happened. Wonder how he was viewed as an IG during the Bush years?
All the 'reasons' given for his dismissal are very subjective, and the sort that could be made up about anyone, with the exception of the working from New York part. And everything
“was confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions and exhibited behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve.”
Wow,,, this is very Soviet. Right out of the “Gulag Archipeligo”. It’s frightening to see the president use a mental illness smear on an opponent. D@mn Communist.
Except you have to give congress 30 days notice. It is the law.
LOL! Isn't that like the pot calling the kettle bl...
bump for later reading
I saw the guy on Glenn Beck, he seemed totally in control, sober and very lucid. More normal than anyone in Obama govt
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