As the
Examiner’s Byron York has reported, the sense
of urgency that led to the June 10 quit-or-be-fired
ultimatum to AmeriCorp IG Gerald Walpin was related to concerns
that Walpin’s whistleblowing about Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson
— whose St. HOPE Academy misused hundreds of thousands of
taxpayer dollars — would jeopardize Sacramento’s ability to get
its share of $787 billion in stimulus spending.
California blogger Eric
Hogue calls attention to a KRCA radio
interview in March with Rep. Doris Mastui, the Democrat who
represents Sacramento in Congress:
Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson has asked U.S. Rep. Doris Matsui
to help keep the flow of federal funds coming into the
city.
Johnson is not allowed to receive federal funds because of
allegations his St. Hope-Hood Corps Foundation misused federal
money.
Matsui, D-District 5, who appeared on the KCRA 3 Morning News on
Saturday morning, said she believes Sacramento will get money,
but she can’t guarantee it.
“Under any scenario, we are going to get the money. We are going
to get the money,” she said. “I understand that process has to
unfold. The mayor is dealing with that. We are dealing with the
situation at the federal level. The city is taking the right
steps. They have to disclose this, and we are moving
forward.”
Matsui added that she has been in contact with White House
officials and other members of the federal government.
If Matsui contacted the White House before Walpin
was fired … Well, this interview is certainly raising
questions on Capitol Hill.
Also on Capitol Hill, the lawsuit Walpin filed last week, seeking
reinstatement to his IG job, has provided Democrats with a
perfect excuse to stop investigating the AmeriCorps case.
The Washington Post’s Ed O’Keeke reports:
Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) said his Oversight and Government
Reform Committee would suspend its investigation into the firing
of Gerald Walpin, the former inspector general at the Corporation
for National and Community Service, since the former watchdog
filed suit against the agency last Friday in federal court. “We
have met with White House staff and interviewed staff at the
Corporation for National and Community Service, and Democratic
and Republican board members, and have reviewed hundreds of pages
of documents,” Towns said in a statement. “This evidence shows
that the Corporation board’s report expressing concerns about Mr.
Walpin’s performance was fact-based, unanimous, and nonpartisan.”
Towns said President Obama had “legitimate reasons for removing
Mr. Walpin.”
Translation: “Nothing to see here. Move along.” This was
perhaps to be expected, and probably won’t make much of
a difference. One Republican source on the Hill
described Democratic investigative staff on the House Oversight
Committee as “useless.” Meanwhile, the congressional patron
saint of watchdogs and whistleblowers, Republican Sen. Chuck
Grassley of Iowa, published a column in Politico:
The IGs, in particular, are the government’s first line of
defense against fraud. Obama needs them to both deter and stamp
out waste. Let’s hope he doesn’t close the door on them…
.
I’ve been a strong advocate for government watchdogs and spent a
lot of time on congressional oversight and investigation, so I
have high hopes for what Obama has said about making the federal
government more transparent and accountable.
At the same time, there are recent allegations of the
administration undermining IG independence. Whether the claim
that the IG for AmeriCorps — the federal program that sponsors
volunteerism — was fired for reporting waste at a pet project is
true or not, the decision to get rid of the IG sends a signal
from the White House that could have a chilling effect on IG
work. It could turn other IGs into lap dogs afraid to ask tough
questions and expose problems… .
With the money spigot wide open, taxpayers deserve an IG in
chief. The FBI director testified in March that the surge in
stimulus-related funding will cause fraud to “skyrocket.” …
Read the
whole thing. Despite every effort of Democrats to ignore it,
“The
Little Scandal That Could” just keeps chugging up that hill.
