From POLITICO: President Barack Obama removed a government agency’s internal watchdog last week and plans to fire him in part because he was “confused” and “disoriented” at a meeting last month, the White House said in a letter to Congress Tuesday night. The letter came after several senators, including key Obama supporter Senator Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), expressed concern that Obama skirted the requirements of federal law.
MCCASKILL'S STATEMENT:
"The White House has failed to follow the proper procedure in notifying Congress as to the removal of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service. The legislation which was passed last year requires that the president give a reason for the removal. ‘Loss of confidence’ is not a sufficient reason. I’m hopeful the White House will provide a more substantive rationale, in writing, as quickly as possible."
Here are Obama's findings on IG firing:
In a letter to the bi-partisan leaders of the Senate Committee that oversees AmeriCorps, Obama listed these alleged defects in Walpin's leadership as an Inspector General.
* Removed after unanimous request from the AmeriCorps board of directors
* At May 20, 2009, board meeting Walpin "was confused, disoriented and unable to answer questions and exhibited behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve."
* The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California complained about Walpin's conduct to the IG oversight board and alleged he withheld exculpatory evidence.
* Walpin had "been absent from the Corporation's headquarters, insisting upon working from his home in New York over the objection" of the board.
* He "exhibited a lack of candor in providing material information to decision makers."
* He "engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct."
* He "had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness."
The letter, authored by Norman Eisen, Special Counsel to the President for ethics, concluded: "It was for these reasons that Mr. Walpin was removed."
Hours before, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Missouri Democrat, criticized Obama for failing to specify why he fired Walpin.
"The White House has failed to follow the proper procedure in notifying Congress as to the removal of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service," McCaskill said in a statement. "The legislation which was passed last year requires that the president give a reason for the removal. 'Loss of confidence' is not a sufficient reason. I'm hopeful the White House will provide a more substantive rationale, in writing, as quickly as possible."
Obama voted for the legislation requiring specific notification to Congress of the reasons to dismiss an inspector general. Any move to fire an inspector general requires 30-days notice.
Obama voted for the law to strengthen the independence of inspectors general.
Walpin led a 2008 investigation into allegations of misused taxpayer funds distributed by AmeriCorps to the St. HOPE Academy of Sacramento, founded in 1989 by Obama supporter and former NBA player Kevin Johnson. Walpin said Johnson, now mayor of Sacramento, misused roughly $850,000 in AmeriCorps funds. His referral to the U.S. Attorney's Office did not result in the filing of criminal charges. But St. HOPE officials agreed, via a settlement, to repay half of its AmeriCorps grants.
On Tuesday, Rep. Darrell Issa, California Republican, sought all White House information Walpin's firing. That followed a request from Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that AmeriCorps provide "any and all records, e-mail, memoranda, documents, communications, or other information" related to Walpin's firing. Issa and Grassley are minority members of congressional oversight panels.
The White House denies Mrs. Obama had any voice in Walpin's future with the agency. Republicans began to question Mrs. Obama's role after press reports indicated she was taking a strong interest in AmeriCorps activities and when her former chief of staff, Jackie Norris, became a "senior adviser" to the Corporation for National and Community Service, also known as AmeriCorps.
More on Timeline: Mayor Kevin Johnson & St. HOPE Investigation
Update: Walpin speaks out.
TPM:
Now, in an interview with FOXNews.com. Walpin called the "lack of candor" charge "a total lie," and repeated his contention that he was fired for daring to go hard after Johnson, an Obama supporter.
As for the explanation that Walpin was confused at a meeting, he responded, improbably, by referencing a verbal slip-up that Barack Obama made during the campaign, which conservatives tried unsuccessfully to make hay out of at the time.
Said Walpin: "I would never say President Obama doesn't have the capacity to continue to serve because of his (statement) that there are 56 states." And he added that same is true for Vice President Joe Biden and his "many express confusions that have been highlighted by the media."
And he amped up the level of rhetoric, declaring: "I am now the target of the most powerful man in this country, with an army of aides whose major responsibility today seems to be to attack me and get rid of me."
Not exactly a picture of the kind of dignified, apolitical watchdog that you'd want for an IG.
As for the absentee charge, Walpin said that CNCS had agreed to allow him to work from home. He said he had planned to resign before Obama took office because his wife objected to his weekly commuting from New York to Washington. But he reconsidered after coming to an agreement with the board allowing him to come to the capital twice or more a eek, and work from home the rest of the time. He said he had "never had a single objection" to the arrangement until the White House's letter.
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