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IG-Gate: Why the Matsui Question Matters

By Robert Stacy McCain on 7.24.09 @ 12:20PM

Following up on yesterday's item about Rep. Doris Matsui's possible role in the firing of AmeriCorps IG Gerald Walpin, Jimmie Bise Jr. of Sundries Shack explains:

Here’s why this matters. The prohibition against Johnson was lifted over (at the time) Inspector General Walpin’s express objection. Thanks to negotiations between the board that runs the AmeriCorps program and the US Attorney in Sacramento which specifically excluded Walpin, Johnson’s punishment was changed so that Sacramento could get a big truckload of your tax money.
Remember that Walpin had found that Johnson had misused several hundred thousand dollars of our money already, so it’s not like Walpin was being unreasonable. However, someone apparently thought he was. Less than a month after he dug in his heels, he got a call from the White House that he had 24 hours to resign or he’d be fired.
Did Representative Matsui have something to do with that call? The interview certainly puts her in the picture but we won’t know for sure until there is a full investigation. Unfortunately, the Democrats don’t seem to be very interested in looking into the matter.

Again, remember that it was a blogger, Eric Hogue, who raised this question about Matsui. And people on Capitol Hill are starting to pay attention.