Sestak, Obama, and the Law

Hans von Spakovsky / May 26, 2010

With Rep. Joe Sestak’s (D-PA) defeat of Sen. Specter (D-PA) in the Democratic Senate primary, the controversy over the alleged job offer made to Sestak last year by someone in the Obama White House is once again heating up.

After essentially ignoring this potentially serious violation of federal law for months, some members of the mainstream media are finally asking questions. Sestak was asked about it by David Gregory on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday. Sestak used this job offer as a campaign issue to elicit support during his primary run, but now practically refuses to talk about it and won’t say which White House staffer made the offer. The public has a right to know exactly what happened, and whether a crime was committed.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has dismissed the issue saying that “Lawyers in the White House and others have looked into conversations that were had with Congressman Sestak, and nothing inappropriate happened.” Senior Obama adviser David Axelrod has said the same thing, although he has admitted that if it did actually occur, it would “constitute a serious breach of the law.” But what is very curious (and revealing) about this is the refusal of Gibbs or anyone else at the White House to say exactly what was said in the conversation and who made the offer – we are apparently just supposed to accept their self-evaluation that nothing “inappropriate” happened. (more…)