Edolphus Towns

Congress: IG Firing Was "Legitimate" And Lawful

Zachary Roth | July 21, 2009, 3:11PM

A congressional committee looking into the White House's firing of the AmeriCorps inspector general has said that the firing was carried out for "legitimate reasons" and did not violate the Inspector General Act.

Late last week, Gerald Walpin filed a lawsuit against three officials from the Corporation for National and Community Service, accusing them of unlawfully firing him as inspector general for the agency last month.

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Gerald Walpin

Walpin Lawsuit Names AmeriCorps Officials, Not White House Brass, As Defendants

Zachary Roth | July 20, 2009, 3:01PM

We're getting a few more details about that lawsuit filed Friday by Gerald Walpin, alleging that his firing as inspector general for the AmeriCorps program was unlawful.

The Washington Post reports that the suit names as defendants three top officials at the Corporation for national and Community Service (CNCS): Acting CEO Nicola O. Goren, Human Resources Director Raymond Limon and General Counsel Frank Trinity. Documents relating to the firing, which occurred last month, show that Walpin had long had a contentious relationship with CNCS officials, Trinity in particular.

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Gerald Walpin

Mass Of New Docs Support White House Reasons For Firing AmeriCorps IG

Zachary Roth | July 3, 2009, 1:42PM

As we noted yesterday, the Washington Post has published the documents turned over by the Corporation for National and Community Service to a Senate committee reviewing the White House's firing of AmeriCorps IG. Conservatives had charged that the IG, Gerald Walpin, was canned for going too hard after an Obama ally.

We've taken a look through the documents, and it's fair to say they offer a pretty clear picture of how and why the CNCS board lost confidence in Walpin. They jibe closely with what the White House and the board have already said -- to us, among others -- about the deterioration of the relationship between the IG and his agency. And they also make clear that this deterioration had begun long before the Obama administration existed.

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Gerald Walpin

WaPo Publishes Docs On AmeriCorps IG Firing

Zachary Roth | July 2, 2009, 6:17PM

Yesterday we told you about new documents which shed more light on the White House's decision to fire AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin.

And now, the Washington Post has published the complete set of documents, which were recently turned over by the Corporation for National and Community Service to a Senate committee reviewing the firing.

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Gerald Walpin

Fired IG's Office Produced Newsletter With Racial And Sexual Jokes

Zachary Roth | July 1, 2009, 11:55AM

We reported recently that, according to two board members for the Corporation for National and Community Service, the firing of the agency's inspector general was initiated by the board, which had developed serious concerns about the IG's performance. Conservatives had been accusing the White House of firing the IG, Gerald Walpin, for conducting an aggressive investigation into an Obama ally.

And today the Washington Post offers more detail about what caused the board to lose confidence in Walpin, based on documents turned over by CNCS to lawmakers reviewing the firing.

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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

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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