White House Fires Ig Walpin.

[sultan_emerr]

I am glad to see that President Obama is clearing the right-wingers and deadwood out of the goverment and off the people's payroll.

"Norm Eisen, the Special Counsel to the President, outlined a number of reasons why President Obama fired Inspector General Gerald Walpin." = http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/20...opriate-co.html

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationw...0,5718990.story

[JDoors]

The firing drew criticism from Republicans and Democrats , who charged that it violated a new law passed last year to protect the independence of inspectors general by requiring 30 days notice and a full explanation to Congress of the dismissal of any IG.(Chicago Tribune, 06/18/09)

It sounds like "business as usual" to me.

[bozodog]

Senator asks about firings of watchdogs

Removal of 2 inspectors general prompts questions

Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, is looking into the abrupt firings within the last week of two other inspectors general ¿ one of whom was fired by the White House and the other by the chair of the International Trade Commission.

Both inspectors general had investigated sensitive subjects at the time of their firings.

business as usual Chicago Style...

[JDoors]

A few quotes from an article by David Limbaugh:

The more we learn about the White House's summary firing of AmeriCorps' inspector general, Gerald Walpin, the more it smells of lawlessness, cronyism and a flagrant disregard for transparency and government accountability.

Walpin -- in investigating the misuse of AmeriCorps funds by St. HOPE charity, which is under the direction of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a strong Obama supporter -- discovered that St. HOPE had failed to use the federal monies for the purposes specified in the grant and improperly had used AmeriCorps personnel to drive Johnson to personal appointments, run other errands for him and wash his car. On Walpin's recommendation, an official at the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that runs AmeriCorps, ordered Johnson's suspension.

Walpin also referred the matter to the local U.S. attorney's office for a criminal inquiry. Though no criminal charges were filed, St. HOPE agreed in a settlement to repay half its $850,000 of AmeriCorps grants.

But the real fireworks didn't begin until Walpin briefed the CNCS board May 20 on his investigation. A few weeks later, the White House called him and gave him one hour to decide whether he would resign or be fired.

He refused to resign, and the White House summarily fired him, as promised, grossly violating the 2008 Inspector General Reform Act, co-sponsored by then-Sen. Barack Obama, which forbids the White House from firing an IG without providing 30 days' notice and the specific reasons for the firing. [emphasis added]

Eisen [White House special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform] said that in the May 20 meeting, "Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve." ... Walpin denied that he was confused or that his presentation was disorganized, though he admitted he was less organized after being asked to leave the room for a while and returning to find his papers shuffled and out of order. GOP investigators said Walpin is entirely sharp, focused, collected and coherent, an assessment that Byron York corroborated based on his two-hour interview. [emphasis added]

It is abundantly clear the White House had a personal interest in protecting Johnson [director of the St. Hope Charity, suspended per Walpin's recommendation], violated the law in firing Walpin, did not seek his side of the story or show any interest in his response to the allegations, didn't interview him to assess his alleged confusion, and was overtly evasive with Sen. Grassley as to its reasons for termination.

In other words: Business as usual.