One would think that the President of the United States would have enough respect for the people who put him in office to offer an explanation that was remotely believable.
The White House released an explanation of the Job offer. The claim is that Rahm Emanuel sent Bill Clinton to meet with Congressmen Sestak to offer an unpaid advisory position which he would hold along with his congressional job if he were to give up his quest for the Democratic nomination.
The letter issued by the White House Attorney Robert Bauer (embedded below) says in part:
“We found that, as the Congressman has publicly and accurately stated, options for Executive Branch service were raised with him. Efforts were made in June and July of 2009 to determine whether Congressman Sestak would be interested in service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board, which would avoid a divisive Senate primary, allow him to retain his seat in the House, and provide him with an opportunity for additional service to the public in a high-level advisory capacity for which he was highly qualified. The advisory positions discussed with Congressman Sestak, while important to the work of the Administration, would have been uncompensated.”
“White House staff did not discuss these options with Congressman Sestak. The White House Chief of Staff enlisted the support of former President Clinton who agreed to raise with Congressman Sestak options of service on a Presidential or other Senior Executive Branch Advisory Board. Congressman Sestak Declined the suggested alternatives, remaining committed to his Senate candidacy.”
Come on, do they really mean to tell us that it took the best and brightest in America ten weeks to come up with that?
Whatever you think of him politically, Rahm Emanuel is a smart politician. Based on their Sestak scenario, the White House wants America to believe that Emanuel truly believed he could talk Sestak out of running for the Senate by offering an unpaid advisory position, and he would serve in that role on top of his regular Congress job. “Hey Joe, I know you want a promotion to the Senate, but we have something better for you, quit the race and we will let you get a second job. And guess what? This second job has no power and you don’t get paid. What do you say?”
Sorry for this explanation to be true, one would have to believe that Emanuel is a political moron, or he thinks that Sestak is the most gullible man alive.
The White House version of the job offer tale is inconsistent with the original story Sestak told back in February.
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KANE: “Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?”
SESTAK: “Yes.”
KANE: “Was it secretary of the Navy?”
SESTAK: “No comment”
Later Kane asks again, “Was there a job offered to you by the White House?” to which Sestak nods and replies “yes, someone offered it.”
Kane asks “It was big right?” Sestak replies, “Let me ‘no comment’ on it.”
“Was it high-ranking?” Kane asked. Sestak said yes.
Notice in February Sestak said he was offered a high ranking position by the White House, but the latest version of the proposal was a non-paid advisory position offered by a former President.
If the new official explanation is true, why did the White House need a conversation with Sestak’s brother two days before the announcement to coordinate stories? Why did President Clinton have lunch with Obama the day before the new tale was announced? Why did Sestak play a cat and mouse game with the press for all of these ten weeks, not giving a complete explanation of the job offer until the administration issued something in writing.
It is not clear whether offering a big or small job in exchange for Sestak to drop out of the race, was a misdemeanor, felony, or totally legal “politics as usual” deed . What is clear, is t the explanation offered by the White House and Sestak today does not pass the “smell test” especially when one remembers that the same charges were directed toward the Obama administration in another Senate race.
On Sept. 27, 2009, Mike Riley of the Denver Post reported that Jim Messina, Obama’s deputy chief of staff, offered Colorado Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff a position in the administration if he canceled plans to run for the Democratic nomination against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet. The paper said the job offer which specified particular jobs, included a possible job at USAID, the foreign aid agency (unlike the tale told about the Sestak offer, Romanoff was offered a paid position).
The report claimed Messina contacted Romanoff right after news leaked in August 2009 that Romanoff would make a primary run against the incumbent, Bennet. Romanoff said no and announced his candidacy. Obama immediately endorsed Bennet who was appointed to his senate seat eight months earlier when Ken Salazar became Obama’s secretary of the Interior.
The White House denied that Romanoff had been offered a job. “Mr. Romanoff was never offered a position within the administration,” said White House spokesman Adam Abrams.
Yet several top Colorado Democrats described Messina’s outreach to Romanoff to The Post, including the discussion of specific jobs in the administration. They asked for anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
Romanoff declined to discuss any such communication and said the only job he’s focused on is “representing the people of Colorado in the United States Senate.”
The Romanoff report was never investigated by beyond the Denver Post, and on its own is not proof of White House impropriety. It all could be very innocent. Perhaps the human resources director of USAID was staying up at night desperately searching for someone with Andrew Romanoff’s qualifications. And perhaps that nightmarish search just happened to take place at the same time Mr. Romanoff was considering his bid against Senator Bennet.
Of course to believe that entire scenario happened as described above, one has to believe in coincidences, the tooth fairy, and the story told by the White House today. Even if you are inclined to believe the White House/Sestak story, the fact that a similar claim was made in Colorado has to give one pause.
Thirty-six years and one week ago a minor burglary in the Watergate Hotel destroyed the trust we had in our government, and brought down a popular president of the United States. It was not the crime itself that brought down Richard Nixon; it was the subsequent lies and cover-up. Based on the explanation we received today, before this Sestak thing is over, we may learn that history does indeed repeat itself.
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