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Obama Removes AmeriCorps IG Who Clashed With Ally: Politicized Firing, Or Just Dessert?
We weren't sure what to make of the news that President Obama has decided to fire the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). The IG, Gerald Walpin, had been investigating the misuse of federal AmeriCorps funds by a nonprofit group run by Kevin Johnson, a former NBA basketball player and Obama supporter who's now the mayor of Sacramento.
But since we think of politicized firings as kind of our beat, we figured it was worth looking into. So here's a quick rundown on how things got to where they are, based on reporting by the Sacramento Bee:
- In April 2008, federal agents (meaning Walpin's IG office, it seems, though the reporting is unclear) began investigating the use of federal grant money by the St. HOPE Academy, a Sacramento non-profit then run by Johnson.
- The following month, local law enforcement announced that no criminal case could be made against Johnson, but the federal probe continued.
- In June, Johnson beat the incumbent mayor, Heather Fargo, in the Democratic primary. But because he didn't win 50 percent of the vote, he would have to face her again in a runoff in November.
- Later that month, the Bee reported that the federal investigation into St. HOPE had expanded to look at the possible misuse of $807,000 in AmeriCorps funds.
- In September, the federal probe was turned over to the U.S. attorney's office in Sacramento.
- Later that month, Walpin, on behalf of CNCS, released the findings of the federal probe, which it appears he had led. Walpin found that St. HOPE had improperly used hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money, by using AmeriCorps volunteers to run errands for Johnson, wash his car, and do political work relating to a local school board race. Saying he had found "potential criminal violations," Walpin recommended that while the US attorney's office's investigation was ongoing, Johnson and another St. HOPE official be barred from receiving federal money. But as the Bee would later note in an editorial, "Walpin decided to act before any legal body determined whether irregularities in the administration of grants from 2004-2007 reflected inadvertent errors and ignorance of regulations or actual fraud."
- Nonetheless, days later, a "debarment official" at CNCS followed up on Walpin's recommendation, taking the rare step of issuing a letter suspending Johnson and the other official from receiving federal funds. Walpin touted the news in "huge red headlines" on his IG website, according to the Bee.
- The Bee would later find that, since its inception in 1994, the NCSC had suspended only two other organizations and three other people, and that the irregularities at St. HOPE were similar to those found at other nonprofits that were not suspended.
- Johnson's camp called the findings "relatively minor issues," and called Walpin, who was appointed to his post by President Bush, a "right-wing Republican." Johnson's campaign cited a 2005 incident in which Walpin had introduced Mitt Romney at a meeting of the conservative Federalist Society -- on whose board Walpin sits -- by saying that Romney served as governor of a state, Massachusetts, run by the "modern-day KKK ... the Kennedy-Kerry Klan."
- On November 4, Johnson won the mayor's race 57-42 over Fargo.
- Two days later, US attorney McGregor Scott, a Bush appointee, announced that the investigation into the misuse of funds did not warrant criminal charges. Scott said he had asked Walpin's office to go back and conduct a line-by-line audit to help determine whether civil charges should be filed, implying that Walpin's probe had been insufficiently detailed.
- In March, 2009, a government consulting expert hired by the city of Sacramento concluded that Johnson's continuing disbarment from receiving federal funds was likely to prevent the city from getting federal stimulus dollars -- a finding Johnson quickly disputed.
- In April, the US Attorney's office announced a settlement with Johnson, which would involve Johnson, St. HOPE, and the other official repaying over $400,000 in grants it received, and would allow him to again receive federal money.
- That same month, the new acting US attorney, Lawrence Brown wrote a letter to a federal oversight body for inspectors general, asking it to review Walpin's work on the St. HOPE investigation. According to the AP, Brown wrote: "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."
- Then in May, Walpin submitted a "Special Report to Congress" that called the settlement "a farce" and declared that claiming it was in the government's interest "is an attempt to pull the wool over the public's eyes."
- And now we hear that Obama has decided to get rid of Walpin. In a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA), White House Counsel Greg Craig referred to Brown's letter criticizing Walpin, and wrote, according to the AP: "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."
So here's what it sounds like: Johnson and his non-profit ran a very loose operation, which deserved some kind of sanction. But Walpin's action -- in publicly suggesting, without much apparent evidence, that Johnson might have committed a crime, and having Johnson barred from receiving federal funds, ultimately jeopardizing the fortunes of the city as a whole after Johnson became mayor -- was out of all proportion to the wrongdoing. (That's especially true given that it could have affected the outcome of a closely fought election -- which is exactly why the FBI has specific policies forbidding public comments about ongoing investigations during political campaign season.) Then, even once the relevant authorities had determined that no crime had been committed and agreed on an appropriate remedy, Walpin worked to undermine that agreement by appealing to Congress.
The White House should probably offer some more specific details about its reasons for firing Walpin, beyond simply referring to Brown's letter -- a spokesman didn't respond to our request for comment. That's especially true given that Walpin had been skirmishing with an Obama ally, raising the specter of a politicized firing. But on its face, it seems like Obama may have had ample reason for making the decision he did.
Josh
Zachary
http://www.snopes.com/language/notthink/deserts.asp
:)
June 12, 2009 6:38 PM | Reply | Permalink
Pretty sure that's "deserts" with one "s" there. Unless you're referring to the sweet course after the entree.
June 12, 2009 6:51 PM | Reply | Permalink
I know nothing about this case.
And pretty my biggest memory of Kevin Johnson was the last play of the 1993 NBA finals, when his desperation shot (the Bulls went up by 1 in game 6, up 3 games to 2, with less than 4 seconds left) was blocked. He turned to the ref to claim he'd been fouled. But shortly after that he freely admitted to the press that it was a clean block -- he'd hoped to convince the refs otherwise but once it was over he was honest.
Which was his m.o. during the NBA years. He'd push at the envelope with the refs (as most players do) but was honest otherwise.
Sounds similar to this case.
June 12, 2009 6:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
what killed us in Game 6 was that 3 by Paxson.
Phoenix Suns, the best team in the NBA that's never won a title...
love ya, KJ. I just wish you showed up more often in Phoenix.
June 13, 2009 12:55 AM | Reply | Permalink
"He'd push at the envelope with the refs (as most players do) but was honest otherwise."
Do MLB batters self-report bad call by the ump? Do tennis players fess up on bad line calls? Does the running back refuse a TD when his foot hit out of bounds at the one yard line?
You can't trust any human in sports. That's why we have refs, umps and all the rest.
I don't disregard Mr. Johnsons honesty and integrity any more or less based on the games he has played.
All's fair in love and war and we all know, our games are WAR!
June 13, 2009 11:11 AM | Reply | Permalink
"So here's what it sounds like: Johnson and his non-profit ran a very loose operation, which deserved some kind of sanction. "
Ran a very loose operation? What are you basing that on? That supposedly someone washed Johnson's car? I saw no mention of any sanctions taken on other companies who committed similar small errors and were not suspended.
It sounds like a Bush scumbag IG was engaging in more of the type of BS that Americans are sick of.
June 12, 2009 6:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
Johnson et al are paying back $400K. That's a "loose operation" confession.
June 12, 2009 8:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
No. That's making a settlement under harassment from a wingnut IG so that you can continue to operate.
I'm not saying the place wasn't run "loose" but no evidence has been provided to show me that was the case. Numerous businesses have infractions with OSHA or other government entities and aren't described as "very loose operations".
June 12, 2009 11:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
What evidence would you need, a pair of eye transplants?
"St. HOPE had improperly used hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant money, by using AmeriCorps volunteers to run errands for Johnson, wash his car, and do political work relating to a local school board race."
Johnson doesn't dispute this, he calls it "relatively minor irregularities".
Case closed.
June 13, 2009 2:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
You're quoting Walpin, the now fired zealot IG.
Where did you read in this story that Johnson doesn't dispute this?
I guess you missed this part
"That same month, the new acting US attorney, Lawrence Brown wrote a letter to a federal oversight body for inspectors general, asking it to review Walpin's work on the St. HOPE investigation. According to the AP, Brown wrote: "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.""
The US Attorney doesn't agree with you/Walpin.
June 13, 2009 12:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Absence of evidence?
"Where did you read in this story that Johnson doesn't dispute this?"
If you have a story which shows he disputes the core issue, feel free to post your evidence.
June 13, 2009 3:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I guess that means you have no quote from this story on Johnson not disputing it. If you have other sources feel free to post em.
Again, Im not saying all Walpin says or Roth says isnt true. Im just saying Im not getting enough information. You making up stuff and quoting Walpin who's later contradicted by the USAtty doesn't really help. And like I originally said, still no facts to back up the "loose operation" point.
I've gotten more from the responses in this page along the lines of what KJ was into than I got from the original post.
June 13, 2009 4:06 PM | Reply | Permalink
Again, how much info would you need for "loose operation" or whatever ticked you off?
Your continued calls for me to prove a negative won't get any evidence for you. Why do you have a problem with taking the article at face value, given that you don't have any contrary evidence to present?
June 13, 2009 4:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
the organization did not say we are innocent of any wrong doing. they did say we are not knowingly guilty of a crime. the 400k was paid back because there was unknowing wrong doing.
June 13, 2009 10:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are you trying to agree with my point?
June 13, 2009 4:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
yeah
June 13, 2009 5:41 PM | Reply | Permalink
Outgoing Bush-appointed IG Gerry Walpin is a class act.
He even wrote an Op-Ed defending John Yoo.
/snark
June 12, 2009 7:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yeah, I think the Johnson story could be considered irrelevant to the firing. IG's more than perhaps any other position among bureaucrats that serve at the pleasure of the President are most likely to retain their position when a new administration - including those from another party - takes office. However, this is because the IG is expected to be above the fray of party politics. Just like every other presidential appointee, IG's are expected to have their resignation on the desk of an incoming President when he takes office - and even for IG's the majority of these resignations is accepted. In the case of a clear partisan like Walpin, Obama's only mistake was not accepting the resignation on January 20th. In fact, Congress should have called for his resignation immediately after the introduction he gave at the Federalist Society
as it was a clear indication that Walpin was not impartial, which like a Supreme Court Justice, is part of the job description.
June 12, 2009 11:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
Is it possible that Obama always planned to fire this guy with some kind of strategic timing? I can't think of better timing than right when Pat Buchanan drops all pretense he's not racist, Sonia Sotomayor emerged from a vicious racist verbal assault unscathed, and a reactionary just up the Holocaust museum to keep up the meme of the Republicans/the Right as the party of racism. With so many reminders in a row, the characterization will last years if not decades in the minds of young voters.
By making it look just a tiny slight little bit like a story about Obama being "connected" to "corruption", he's knows Fox News/Limbaugh will report it loudly, which means the MSM has to report it, and the conservatives hang themselves. It makes me wonder how many of the ridiculously weak digs against Obama are deliberate red herrings put out by the man himself (or his people).
Then again, I read too much into things. I think Michelle Obama showing off her arms is a designed play to make conservative commentators look like the scared, sexist wimps they are (they fell for it).
Granted that the Republican party is racist is obvious, but people tend to be forgetful.
June 15, 2009 3:26 AM | Reply | Permalink
Someone on the Board of the Federalist Society (not merely a member) is automatically extremely suspect. If that's true, he should have been fired and barred from ever working for any government agency again. It's the same as belonging to the KKK or the Communist Party, both of which get you barred from ever getting a security clearance.
June 13, 2009 1:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
Ugh. Regardless of whether there is any merit or not in the charges against Johnson, you are guaranteed that Fox and Rush and the rest of the yammering idiots are going to be screeching about this for the next 2 weeks at the minimum. The first thing they're going to do is scream that a double-standard applies to Dems, in reference to the US attorney firings under Bush. Obama and Rahm better be prepared to get out in front of this, because if they don't they're going to be in reaction mode constantly. This is the kind of story that's going to be very easy for Fox to paint as pure political back-scratching, which will be irritating as hell since it appears as though Walpin is a jerk, to put it mildly.
June 12, 2009 7:34 PM | Reply | Permalink
There may be a member of the Federalist Society who is perfectly sane and doesn't some kind of emotional disorder or a case of arrested development, but I've never met one. Mostly, they all strke me as people who want to be John Bolton when they grow up.
June 12, 2009 7:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
FKA NC Steve: Sigmund 'Siggy' Marvin from "What About Bob?" was a member of the Federalist Society... :( Kookie stuff...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Korsmo
June 15, 2009 2:25 AM | Reply | Permalink
Zack, I don't think you have any basis for claiming that Johnson ran a "very loose operation." What exactly were the allegations, and did they have any basis in truth? I mean, c'mon, washing a car? There should be some additional paperwork involved in the investigations, which you should read and report on the actual findings, before you editorialize this way.
Aside from that, I remember Johnson as a fine, fine point guard for Phoenix in their good years, all over the floor and a leader in assists and steals. As well, I remember that he was heavily involved in charity work during his NBA years. One of the good guys.
June 12, 2009 7:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
Very interesting... I read Jake Tapper's reporting on this before I saw your post. He left out some of the details you're reporting. Oh well I guess that's just Jake being Jake.
June 12, 2009 8:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
As someone who knew of Johnson as an above average point guard, long before he became Mayor of the city in which I reside, here are my thoughts based on what I have read over the past couple of years in the Sac Bee:
1) The organization Johnson ran, St. Hope, does some well intentioned work. Sometimes it is controversial (taking over a poor-performing inner-city high school), sometimes it is not (rehabbing buildings in the most blighted area of Sacramento). My sense is that the alleged infractions are par-for-the-course in terms of meeting federal guidelines. There has been some criticism in the comments about the statement that St. Hope was "loosely run". I think the assertion is backed up by the fact the organization did pay back some of the funds. Admitting to being a loosely run organization, does not necessarily deserve being a target of a rogue politically motivated official, which seems to be the point, here.
2) Whether the infractions were worthy of the special attention given to them cannot be ascertained by the shoddy investigative journalism practiced by the Sac Bee.
3) It is not clear why Johnson would be targeted politically by the IG. While both he and the incumbent Mayor he defeated are Democrats, he is certainly the more conservative of the two. He certainly does not have national (or state) political hopes (at least insomuch as having been investigated twice for inappropriate contact with underage females would deflate such hopes--though he has been officially cleared in both cases). So, more needs to be known about what other possible motivations there were behind the IG's actions. Perhaps, it is a simple (though not surprising) case of another Bush appointee trying to boost his own conservative credentials.
4) One telling note is that the Republican vice-chair of Americorps is Steve Goldsmith, former Mayor of Indianapolis, who "strongly endorsed Obama's decision" according to widespread media reports. This should probably have been noted in Zach's reporting.
5) Limbaugh was already on this like flies on s*** this morning as a commenter already predicted.
June 12, 2009 8:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
underage
In what jurisdiction? Bearing in mind the variation in ages of consent, (there were NBA games in Canada (though none, fortunately, in Mexico), after all), we need more information before ruling out a run for the Presidency...
June 13, 2009 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Johnson is a mixed bag. His returning to his childhood neighborhood to attempt to greatly improve it for the residents is very admirable. Many former NBA players take their fortunes and head for places to have fun. Kevin didn't do that.
His effort to convert Sac High School to a charter school is a mixed bag itself. The conversion has been successful, but much of that success is due to the decreased enrollment, and the ability to reject poorly performing students.
While running for mayor he carefully avoided most organized contact with voters, like forums and other multi-candidate informational meetings, although he did participate in a few such events.
Immediately on being elected he started a initiative process to give himself "strong mayor" powers, and with the help of paid petition signature gatherers quickly qualified the measure for the ballot, but then pulled it back for further consideration.
He uses lawyers provided by big developers acting as "volunteers", meaning paid by their developer employers, as a major part of his personal staff, and that is the source of the initiative petition. That petition is so poorly constructed that it leaves Johnson serving both as mayor and a councilman for several months after it passes, if it does. (Thus giving himself, in effect, two votes on proposals.)
To his credit, he quickly learned that his behavior was inappropriate, and corrected much of it. So, eventually he may become a very good mayor. Unfortunately, he had never attended a single city council meeting before running for that office, so had little idea about what the job consisted of.
A mixed bag, as I said.
June 12, 2009 9:42 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks for the insights into Johnson as mayor...
June 13, 2009 4:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
I would agree with you Johnson did tend to use staged type events during his campaign. But there are a lot racists in Sacramento. I either worked there or took classes there for five years commuting from a neighboring city. A lot of people in Sacramento are more Arkansas than California.
He did walk neighborhoods canvassing votes. I did witness him show up at Sacramento City College and talk to students town hall style. Friendly environment for him there. SCC students are roughly 20% African American and many are there with an interest in sports, junior college athletes.
June 14, 2009 1:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
There are racists everywhere, so the fact that Sacramento has its share is no big surprise. Just don't forget that one of the first areas to mount a very large effort for Obama was Sacramento, and that effort was very much a multi-racial effort. Many of us, myself included, were thrilled that Johnson was going to run for mayor, but his failure to campaign in a competitive atmosphere was disturbing, as were many of his comments and promises which demonstrated his lack of knowledge about our city government.
We are fortunate that he is learning the ropes rapidly. I do wish he would give up his power grab though.
June 14, 2009 7:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I need to add, Johnson was not a part of the Sacramento for Obama effort, unless he joined it very late.
June 14, 2009 7:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
This is a great story about a Federalist Society nut! Gerald Walpin is a Kenneth Starr clone who was the head of the Federalist Society Litigation Project to take down Bill Clinton along with Ted Olsen, Kenneth Starr, etc., and funded by Richard Mellon Scaife.
He followed the Ken Starr model against Johnson including leaks to the press, criminal referrals, etc. After his scheme to take down Johnson failed, he issued this unsolicited "Starr" report to Congress to both cover his butt for his improper actions and to further smear Johnson, including with a dubious sex charge! They had to get rid of him. He's crazy and dangerous.
Read this report. It's nuts! Walpin is a drooling whack job.
http://www.cncsig.gov/PDF/StHope/StHOPEFIN.pdf
June 12, 2009 10:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thank you!
FACTS! What an interesting idea to include "facts" in reporting! You should really send a suggestion to Fox, CNN, and the AP that they start using actual facts in their reporting too. Who knows? it really could catch on!
June 12, 2009 10:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
Thanks to the commenters familiar with Johnson's post-NBA record and the politics of the city of Sacramento for the additional context on this story. Ain't the blogosphere great?
June 12, 2009 11:39 PM | Reply | Permalink
Zach says:
"In March, 2009, a government consulting expert hired by the city of Sacramento concluded that Johnson's continuing disbarment from receiving federal funds was likely to prevent the city from getting federal stimulus dollars -- a finding Johnson quickly disputed."
Just as a little background, that so-called expert was a crony of Gerald Walpin's from the Federalist Society named Frederick Levy.
The plot thickens.
June 12, 2009 11:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Not to defend Walpin, and I can't because I know nothing about him, but to imagine a right wing conspiracy to bring down a virtual unknown like Kevin Johnson, who is definitely a friend of big business, is really a stretch. From what I do know, I have to suspect that Walpin is a typical incompetent Bush appointee. Incompetent enough to work against the closest thing to a serious Republican candidate for mayor that Sacramento will likely ever see. Johnson's opponent was a very progressive Democrat.
Also, the "charges" against Johnson, while they would not result in conviction, were certainly worthy of consideration by voters. None of them were untrue, as far as I know, just not chargeable offenses. But, he is still young, is a very hard working man, and seems to be learning rapidly, so I expect him to become an excellent mayor.
June 13, 2009 12:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
Kevin Johnson came into office as Sacramento mayor with a shaky history as an executive and immediately proposed to change the structure of city government to give himself extraordinary authority. Obama administration political staff would do well to closely at his record and judgment before offering reciprocal support.
June 13, 2009 12:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
It's a certainty Walpin will appear on Fox News Channel sometime soon to carry on his jihad against KJ and a vendetta against Obama for firing him.
June 13, 2009 12:54 AM | Reply | Permalink
I live in Sacto, have so since '88.
KJ and St. Hope have been under investigation for issues including financing, abandoned buildings, neglect of property and more, for a decade or more. LONG before his run for Mayor.
His investments in Sacto development are in crime ridden, hard core areas, bless his heart and he's pledged to turn around youths and neighborhoods full of crime, blight, and gangs.
However, he's fallen WELL short of his stated goals, and has been under investigation for illegal doings for years now.
LONG before this timeline you have Zach. Dig deeper, the roots are deep with KJ and his cronies in Sacto development and redevelopment.
You'll likely find some sick and sordid real estate dealings with local Sacto development gods such as Tsakoupoulas, Benvenutti, and more.
Going back to the early 80's.
KJ has ghosts in his closet. And all of Sacto, does too.
Dig deeper, it's get's uglier.
June 13, 2009 1:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
That is an accurate assessment from what I have in Sac over the years...
June 14, 2009 1:52 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I'd hate for this to bring the guy down. I have a soft spot there (touches spot on left side of chest), him being the starting point guard on my first rotisserie team along with Tim Hardaway. David Robinson and Akeem Olajuwan being my 1-2 centers. Back when we got the stats from NEWSPAPERS.
June 13, 2009 2:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
And how did you manage to plug your fantasy team with a virtual all star lineup? Sounds like you were in a league of NBA dunces.
June 13, 2009 6:35 AM | Reply | Permalink
It was a pretty competitive league. Believe it or not, KJ and Hardaway were not the "best" pgs in the league at the time, and I had serious weakness at forward. I horse traded for Olajuwon after Laimbeer broke his face. He sat on my bench for a couple of months while my third string Vlade Divac filled in. I only took over first place in the last month when Olajuwon came back. In those days you could only trade once a week and it cost money. And you could only change your lineup on Monday for the whole week. I am not sure if those were the good ole days of rotisserie or not.
June 13, 2009 8:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
How much money has the Federal Government and the State of Calif spent on this issue? If the only way you are going to find KJ "suspect or guilty" of questional business is to go back decades, and your state finances are so bad...some adult should be brought in to evaluate the cost / benefit of all these legal maneuvers by all parties involved.
June 13, 2009 8:08 AM | Reply | Permalink
If you go back decades, KJ was playing basketball, not developing properties. Let's face it, he is, like most of us, a flawed human being. Unlike a lot of us he is trying to use his accumulated basketball fortune to better his old neighborhood, and he is a fast learner, when it comes to politics.
His power grab immediately on being elected was a terrible decision on his part, but it was driven largely by his borrowed lawyers, who were serving their paymasters, not Kevin Johnson. It is possibly he is terminally naive, but I hope not.
I opposed his election vigorously. I opposed his power grab even more vigorously. But, now he is the mayor, and I'm looking forward to him becoming a very good one.
June 13, 2009 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
This guy, Obama, is worse than Bush. Not only has he broken almost every campaign promise, but with Bush, you knew what you were getting, a rabid, right wing fundamental christian idiot. With Obama, what you're getting is a politician masquerading as a "progressive/Democrat who is really a right wing fundamental christian smooth talker.
June 13, 2009 11:16 AM | Reply | Permalink
ugh.
June 13, 2009 6:26 PM | Reply | Permalink
I co sign!!
June 15, 2009 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
you have added much of the info missing from this story, thank you for your insightful commentary.
June 14, 2009 8:33 AM | Reply | Permalink
Johnson's my mayor, though I didn't vote for him when he ran against the incumbent and more progressive mayor. St. Hope has sort of been an on-again off-again subject here, well covered by the Bee. But I haven't heard much for several months now, so it's probably resolved, as this report states. As for Walpin, whom I was unaware of, the one thing that raises my eyebrows is the fact that this is a Bush hold-over. And it's not a reprise of the Bush DOJ
debacle with the US Attorneys.
So far Johnson hasn't done much spectacular one way or the other, but there's no sign of any sort of penchant for graft or corruption.
Of course, the city is rapidly running out of money anyway.
Look for the Republicans to call for some kind of an investigation of the firing. Whether they get it or not I don't know, or really care.
June 13, 2009 12:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
Obama's been accused of throwing several people under the bus, what makes KJ so special that Obama would fire someone for him?
June 14, 2009 1:54 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good. should have fired all of the Repug nutjobs appointed by bush - a lot sooner!
Walpin reads like a possibly-worse version of Mary Best Buchanan Whackjob - who needs to be fired ASAP. these are ideology-driven people who cannot conduct their jobs wth out being Repug hacks.
Though Johnson may need to answer questions and improve the accountability of St. Hope - there are plenty of Repug Non-Profits misusing funds that need investigating.
This reads like a typical Repug hit against a Dem. Walpin has a lot of pretty nasty writings out there and to top it off - campaign donations to Guiliani - enough said.
WALPIN, GERALD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 ROSENMAN & COLIN 8/7/00 $1,000 Lazio, Rick A (R)
WALPIN, GERALD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 ROSENMAN & COLIN 11/16/99 $1,000 Giuliani, Rudolph W (R)
WALPIN, GERALD
NEW YORK,NY 10021 ROSENMAN & COLIN 6/3/99 $1,000 Giuliani, Rudolph W (R)
June 14, 2009 3:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
The Supreem Leader Ayatollah Barack Obama raised his hand, look to the right then looks to the left... Then speaks
OBEY !!!
June 15, 2009 12:45 AM | Reply | Permalink