Brewing Scandal in Obama Administration As AmeriCorps IG Gerald Walpin, a Bush Appointee, is Removed Over Investigation of Obama Pal Kevin Johnson

UPDATE

Apparently Democrat Sen. Claire McCaskill has weighed in and pronounced herself unsatistifed with Obama’s “loss of confidence” rationale. Now the White House is saying that the firing was justified because IG Gerald Walpin was “confused” and “disoriented.” This is getting ugly and the right wing is circling like vultures. Take conservative whackjob Michelle Malkin's response, for example. This has the makings of another Travelgate and Michelle Obama is playing a prominent role in this mess. It will be interesting to see how this developes. Stay tuned.....

A new controversy involving President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, has erupted and it is shaping up to be on the scale of Travelgate and the Clintons. Apparently, the President said that he has lost confidence in the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other national service programs and has told Congress he is removing him from the position. His move, reportedly comes on the heels of an investigation of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group that Johnson headed. Hmm. Talk about drama! For all the folks literally screaming "off with Obama's head," let's not forget that the right wing is on the prowl for anything they can throw at President Obama. Gerald Walpin is a Bush appointee and it seems like these Bush appointees have a hard time leaving their jobs. You know, they feel a sense of entitlement. Don't get me wrong, if Walpin is onto something, then by all means it's worth a second look, but when I see people like Matt Drudge and conservative nutjob Michelle Malkin featuring this incident so prominently on their websites, I have to wonder what else is afoot here.

Gerald Walpin was criticized by the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National Community Service. The corporation runs the AmeriCorps program.

"It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General," Obama said in a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Joe Biden, who also serves as president of the Senate. "That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General." The president didn't offer any more explanation, but White House Counsel Gregory Craig, in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, cited the U.S. attorney's criticism of Walpin to an integrity committee for inspectors general." We are aware of the circumstances leading to that referral and of Mr. Walpin's conduct throughout his tenure and can assure you that the president's decision was carefully considered," Craig wrote.

Grassley had written Obama a letter pointing to a law requiring that Congress be given the reasons an IG is fired. He cited a Senate report saying the requirement is designed to ensure that inspectors general are not removed for political reasons. Grassley said Walpin had identified millions of dollars in AmeriCorps funds that were wasted or misspent and "it appears he has been doing a good job." Source: Washington Examiner

So what's the problem that stuck in President Obama's throat?

The IG found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car. In August 2008, Walpin referred the matter to the local U.S. attorney's office, which said the IG's conclusions seemed overstated and did not accurately reflect all the information gathered in the investigation.

" We also highlighted numerous questions and further investigation they needed to conduct, including the fact that they had not done an audit to establish how much AmeriCorps money was actually misspent," Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown said in an April 29 letter to the federal counsel of inspectors general.

Walpin's office made repeated public comments just before the Sacramento mayoral election, prompting the U.S. attorney's office to inform the media that it did not intend to file any criminal charges. The U.S. attorney's office reached a settlement in the matter. Brown cited press accounts that said Johnson and the nonprofit would repay half of nearly $850,000 in grants it received. Kevin Heistand, chairman of the board of St. HOPE Academy, said in a statement it was "about time" Walpin was removed. "Mr. Walpin's allegations were meritless and clearly motivated by matters beyond an honest assessment of our program."Ken Bach, who works in the inspector general's office at the corporation, will be acting inspector general until Obama appoints someone to the position. Source: Washington Examiner

I wondered why Jackie Norris was being shuttled over to a new position so abruptly, but I guess it is rather apparent that Michelle Obama, like Nancy Reagan and Hillary Clinton, carry a lot of weight in their husbands' administrations. So, before the media has a feeding frenzy over Mrs. Obama, let's revisit history and all the scandals that involving the presidents and the first ladies. What is deliberately missing from the right wing spin is that Alan Solomont, a Democrat and the board chairman of the government-run corporation, and Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican and the board's vice chair, said they strongly endorsed Obama's decision.

Musical Chairs in the East Wing as First Lady Michelle Obama Replaces her Chief of Staff Jackie Norris with Longtime Friend Attorney Susan Sher

Musical chairs in the White House. First Lady Michelle Obama has replaced her chief of staff, Jackie Norris, with White House lawyer Susan Sher. My first thought is to ask, who cares, but I guess it is worthy of some discussion since this happened four months into the Obama administration. It's also funny how this flew under the mainstream media radar, since they hang on to every word from the Obamas. The news release offered no explanation as to the reason for Norris' whirlwind tenure, but I guess being a longtime friend of Michelle Obama trumps the relatively new friendship with Norris, who she met in Iowa during the early days of caucuses. Norris is a mother of three young boys and I guess an argument could be made about the lack of family time with her kids that this position calls for.

In yesterday's announcement, Obama noted that Norris had "built a strong organization in the East Wing and made tremendous progress on issues that are important to me and the President, particularly in the area of national service."

Don't cry for Jackie Norris because she has managed to get a new job, despite the challenging economic climate. She will become a senior adviser to the Corporation for National and Community Service, which provides grants to service organizations and promotes volunteerism. It also oversees programs such as AmeriCorps and Senior Corps.

Sher, on the other hand, seems to be Michelle Obama's home girl. She worked in both the East and West wings on legal issues and health care reform. According to the Washington Post, she has known the first lady for more than a decade, as their career paths have been intertwined. Sher was a vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center; Obama worked there, too. Sher also served as corporation counsel for then-Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, for whom Obama and White House senior adviser Valerie Jarrett both worked.