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| Fired Inspector General Files Motion to Return to His Job |
| 2009-09-18 |
| The government watchdog President Obama fired earlier this year for allegedly being "confused" and "disoriented" filed a motion Thursday to get his job back immediately. Gerald Walpin was the inspector general for the Corporation for National and Community Service until President Obama pink-slipped him in June. Walpin filed one lawsuit in July arguing that the dismissal was politically motivated and broke a 2008 law governing how watchdogs can be removed. Thursday's request for an injunction asked for Walpin to be reinstated immediately. The motion comes on the heels of the federal government seeking an additional five-week delay to file a response to Walpin's complaint. The motion claims that Obama violated the law which prohibits the removal of an inspector general unless the president first notifies both chambers of Congress with an explanation 30 days in advance. Walpin argues that violation of this law has a "chilling and adverse impact" on all inspectors general, "creating substantial worries about performing their responsibilities to root out fraud and waste" if the subject of their investigation has politically powerful friends or may publicly tarnish a presidential program. The White House did not respond to an e-mail seeking a response. Obama hastily fired Walpin after a board meeting in May in which, the White House says, he was "unduly disruptive," and displayed a "lack of candor" in providing information to decision makers. Walpin insists the charge is baseless and believes his firing was the result of bad blood between him and the board over his investigation of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, an Obama supporter, for alleged misuse of federal funds. Walpin's office found that Johnson and his academy, St. HOPE, which received $850,000 in AmeriCorps money, had misused the funds and AmeriCorps volunteers for personal purposes, including enlisting their help in political campaigns and washing his car. The U.S. attorney's office reached a settlement, under which Johnson and the academy reportedly were ordered to repay about half of the federal grants. But at the meeting in May, Walpin announced to the AmeriCorps board that he wasn't done with the Johnson investigation. A Republican on the board of directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, reportedly said Walpin wanted to issue a public statement asserting the need for further investigation in the case, a move that aggravated board members. In the motion, Walpin called the charges by the White House a "character assassination" that has been disputed by a memo that noted Walpin's "clear and well-understood presentation." Walpin asked in the motion whether the charge was motivated by a view that his performance was too effective "in uncovering fraud, waste, and abuse, which made persons in power uncomfortable." Walpin has garnered support from a bipartisan group of officials -- including four former U.S. attorneys, three former federal judges, one former attorney general and a former counsel to President Clinton -- who sent a letter to the Senate in June defending Walpin's integrity and competence. |
| Posted by:Fred |