Mitch McConnell

"The Commission Has Been Road-Blocked": Republicans' War On The FEC

Pete Martin and Zachary Roth | June 30, 2009, 9:13AM

Last fall, James Ross, a New York City resident and a donor to several Democratic organizations, received an unusual letter. "Your name has been put in our database," Ross was told. "We are monitoring all reports of a wide variety of leftist organizations. As your name appears in subsequent reports, it is our intent to publicize your involvement in your local community. Should any of these organizations be found to be engaged in illegal or questionable activity, it is our intent to publicize your involvement with those activities."

The letter was signed by Howard Rich, a publicity-shy New York real-estate investor and the founder of the conservative activist group Americans for Limited Government. Rich and his group were accused by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee of illegally using Federal Election Commission disclosure reports to obtain the names and addresses of political donors in order to discourage them from making contributions -- a violation of election law. In April, three of the FEC's six commissioners voted to open an investigation into the matter. But the commission's three Republicans opposed a probe. The FEC deadlocked 3-3, and no action was taken against Rich.

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Barack Obama

Report: Obama Admin Drafts Memo To Detain Terror Suspects Indefinitely

Zachary Roth | June 26, 2009, 6:21PM

The latest installment in the Obama administration's tendency to mimic the Bushies on war on terror tactics:

The Washington Post and Pro Publica report:

The Obama administration, fearing a battle with Congress that could stall plans to close Guantanamo, has drafted an executive order that would reassert presidential authority to incarcerate terrorism suspects indefinitely, according to three senior government officials with knowledge of White House deliberations.

Such an order would embrace claims by former president George W. Bush that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under the laws of war. Obama advisers are concerned that bypassing Congress could place the president on weaker footing before the courts and anger key supporters, the officials said.

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Gerald Walpin

Reagan Fired Slew Of IGs Upon Taking Office -- And Senate GOP Last Year Blocked Measure To Make Firing IGs Harder

Zachary Roth | June 22, 2009, 3:37PM

On Friday we reported that, according to two board members, the impetus for firing the AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin, came from the board, not the White House.

Still, just to put a nail in the coffin of any notion that the dismissal represents some sort of unprecedented partisan power play, it's worth considering some historical context. Take a look at this UPI report (via Nexis) from January 21, 1981 -- the second day of the Reagan administration:

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Gerald Walpin

AmeriCorps Board Member: We Initiated IG Firing

Zachary Roth | June 19, 2009, 4:44PM

The White House's decision to fire the AmeriCorps inspector general was set in motion by a unanimous request it received from the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which asked the White House to review the IG's performance, according to a board member.

The firing "would not have played itself out" were it not for the fact that the board raised concerns about the IG, Gerald Walpin, after the May 20 board meeting, a board member told TPMmuckraker. The board member added that the White House had no role in encouraging the board to make the review request, calling it "completely board-initiated." The White House had cited the request from the board in its letter to Congress explaining the reason for Walpin's firing.

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Gerald Walpin

Conservatives Launch Full Court Press On IG Firing

Zachary Roth | June 18, 2009, 6:10PM

Conservatives are starting to smell blood on the IG firing story.

Tom Fitton of Judicial Watch -- the conservative-leaning government watchdog that made life miserable for President Clinton in the '90s -- tells TPMmuckraker that his group is eager to work with the canned IG, Gerald Walpin, to keep the pressure on the White House over the firing. "We have let it be known that we'd like to talk to Mr. Walpin," said Fitton.

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Barack Obama

Grassley Still Not Happy With White House Explanation For IG Firing

Zachary Roth | June 18, 2009, 9:52AM

OK, it sounds like Chuck Grassley isn't satisfied with the White House's explanation for why it fired the AmeriCorps inspector general.

White House ethics lawyer Norm Eisen met personally with the Iowa GOP senator and his staff yesterday morning, to go over the reasons for the firing of the IG, Bush appointee Gerald Walpin. Eisen had first detailed those reasons in a letter to Congress sent Tuesday night.

But in a new letter sent last night to Eisen's boss, White House counsel Greg Craig, Grassley writes that in that meeting, Eisen "refused to answer several direct questions posed to him about the representations made in his letter."

Grassley went on to lay out a new list of questions, essentially asking for a step-by-step walk-through of how the decision to fire Walpin was made. For instance, he wants Craig to tell him in writing:

Specifically, which CNCS Board members came forward with concerns about Mr. Walpin's ability to serve as the Inspector General?

And:

Which witnesses were interviewed in the course of Mr. Eisen's review?

And:

What efforts were made during Mr. Eisen's review to obtain both sides of the story or to afford the Office of Inspector General an opportunity to be heard?

As we noted yesterday, Sen. Claire McCaskill, the Missouri Democrat who had earlier raised concerns that the White House hadn't explained to Congress its reasons for the firing, indicated yesterday that, in light of the White House's letter, she's now largely satisfied.

Grassley, not so much. On to the next round...

Gerald Walpin

McCaskill: Reasons For Firing IG Are "Well Founded"

Zachary Roth | June 17, 2009, 5:58PM

We asked earlier today whether Sen. Claire McCaskill would be satisfied with the White House's explanation of its reasons for firing AmeriCorps IG Gerald Walpin. And it looks the answer is yes.

McCaskill said in a statement, reports CNN, that the White House was now in full compliance with the law, and added: "The reasons given in the most recent White House letter are substantial and the decision to remove Walpin appears well founded."

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Gerald Walpin

Fired IG: Obama-ites Are Out To "Attack Me And Get Rid Of Me"

Zachary Roth | June 17, 2009, 2:51PM

Gerald Walpin, the AmeriCorps inspector general who was recently fired by the White House, has shot back at his former bosses over the dismissal -- but he hasn't done much to undo the impression that he's far from an independent, non-partisan figure.

Last night, the White House sent a letter to Congress explaining why it fired Walpin. Ethics counsel Norm Eisen wrote Walpin, 78, was "confused" and "disoriented" at a recent board meeting, that he had been absent from the office, and that he had shown a "lack of candor" in providing information to decision-makers. That seemed to refer to a formal complaint issued by a local US Attorney regarding Walpin's work on a probe of the Obama ally, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. The complaint charged Walpin with, among other things, withholding from the US Attorney's office pertinent information he had obtained.

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Barack Obama

White House Explains IG Firing -- Will It Be Enough?

Zachary Roth | June 17, 2009, 12:36PM

We knew the White House was going to have to offer a fuller explanation for its firing of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service who had clashed with an Obama ally.

And now it has. In a letter sent last night to Congress, reports Politico, Norm Eisen, the White House ethics counsel, wrote that at a May 20 board meeting, Walpin, 78, had been "confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve."

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Barack Obama

Obama Admin Mimics Bush Again: White House Records Are Secret

Zachary Roth | June 16, 2009, 10:03AM

Add another (perhaps more minor) entry to the list of ways in which the Obama administration is mimicking its predecessor on issues of transparency.

MSNBC.com reports that the Secret Service has denied the news outlet's request for the names of visitors to the White House since President Obama was sworn in. It also denied a narrower request by the good-government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington for records of visits by coal executives.

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Barack Obama

Grassley Wants More Info On AmeriCorps IG Firing

Zachary Roth | June 15, 2009, 11:34AM

On Friday, we took a look at the White House's firing of Gerald Walpin, the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service, who had clashed with an Obama ally, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. We concluded that, though the White House should offer a more detailed explanation for the firing, it looks like there was ample reason to get rid of Walpin.

But we're not the only ones asking for more information. ABC News reports that Sen. Charles Grassley, (R-IA) has sent a letter to the chair of CNCS asking for all relevant information and documents pertaining to the firing.

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U.S. Attorneys

Obama Removes AmeriCorps IG Who Clashed With Ally: Politicized Firing, Or Just Dessert?

Zachary Roth | June 12, 2009, 3:40PM

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:

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Barack Obama

CIA Stance On Torture Tape Docs Suggests Obama's New Open Government Era Won't Materialize

Zachary Roth | June 9, 2009, 1:49PM

It's looking more and more like Barack Obama's pledge to usher in a new era of openness in government may well go unfulfilled.

Yesterday, administration lawyers cited national security concerns to argue that Bush-era documents detailing the videotaped interrogations of detainees should not be released. And in the wake of that news, open-government advocates are reluctantly acknowledging that, despite Obama's campaign promises, his approach to secrecy on issues of national security will likely not depart significantly from that of George Bush.

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Barack Obama

Nadler To Hold Hearing On State Secrets

Zachary Roth | June 1, 2009, 6:47PM

We've told you about one way in which President Obama has so far continued his predecessor's tactics: by invoking the state secrets privilege to argue for the dismissal of lawsuits in the war on terror.

And now Congress will consider reforming the State Secrets Act, in an effort to make it more difficult to invoke it when national security concerns are not truly at take.

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Torture

Taguba: Rape Photos Not At Issue In Lawsuit -- But They Do Exist

Zachary Roth | June 1, 2009, 9:09AM

Last week, the Daily Telegraph reported that, according to the retired major general who led a probe into torture at Abu Ghraib, some of the photos whose release the Obama administration is trying to block in the ACLU's lawsuit show rape and sexual abuse by members of the US armed forces.

The administration quickly and strongly denied that the photos in the lawsuit showed such acts -- but appeared not to rule out the possibility that other photos did, prompting speculation that the Telegraph might have gotten its photos mixed up.

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