Republicans unsatisfied with White House report on Sestak job offer
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Hours after the Obama administration released a report Friday seeking to explain a job offer made to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.,), a leading Republican continued to raise questions about the propriety of the incident.
Seeking to quiet political questions, the White House said that Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel enlisted former President Bill Clinton to discuss with Sestak a possible unpaid administration job. Sestak would remain in the House and forgo a Senate run against White House favorite, Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
Sestak on Friday confirmed that Clinton had approached him on behalf of Emanuel and they talked about Sestak joining a presidential advisory board and staying out of the Senate primary.
“I said no,” Sestak said in a statement.
The report, by White House Counsel Robert Bauer, said no one in the administration discussed the offer with Sestak, so there was no impropriety. Bauer also argued that such discussions were neither illegal nor unethical and that other Democratic and Republican administrations “motivated by the same goals — discussed alternative paths to service for qualified individuals also considering campaigns for public office.”
Republicans have questioned the discussions and some have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to determine if the job offer violated the law. The release of the White House report didn’t end the political furor.
In a prepared statement, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Vista), the ranking Republican on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, questioned the report and its conclusions.
“After more than 10 weeks of outstanding questions, the White House has offered a version of events that has important differences from what Congressman Sestak has been saying for months – that he was offered a ‘job’ by ‘someone in the White House’ in exchange for leaving the Pennsylvania Senate race.
“I’m very concerned that in the rush to put together this report, the White House has done everything but explain its own actions and has instead worked to craft a story behind closed doors and coordinate with those involved. The White House has admitted today to coordinating an arrangement that would represent an illegal quid-pro-quo as federal law prohibits directly or indirectly offering any position or appointment, paid or unpaid, in exchange for favors connected with an election,” Issa stated.
“Regardless of what President Clinton or Congressman Sestak now say, it is abundantly clear that this kind of conduct is contrary to President Obama’s pledge to change ‘business as usual.’’
During the grueling Democratic primary, Sestak told voters that he had been offered a job to skip the race against Specter, who switched from the GOP to the Democratic Party. The White House and the party establishment in Pennsylvania supported Specter, whose switch helped Democrats control the Senate.
Sestak went on to win the May 18 Pennsylvania primary and is now the Democratic candidate for the Senate seat.
As the GOP complaints grew in recent weeks, Democrats tried to ease the pressure. White House aides insisted nothing untoward happened and that there was no deal.
On Thursday, Obama weighed in. “I can assure the public that nothing improper took place,” Obama said at his news conference.
According to the White House report, chief of staff Emanuel enlisted Clinton as an intermediary to talk with Sestak, a former aide on the National Security Council staff in the 1990s.
--Michael Muskal
