Interesting:
At first blush, he’s the kind of supporting witness a Supeme Court nominee like Sonia Sotomayor would want to have in her corner – a Republican former federal prosecutor appointed by President George W. Bush as inspector general of Americorps.
So when Gerald Walpin e-mailed Sotomayor May 28 to offer his assistance, Sotomayor wrote back in less than a half-hour to say she was grateful for his offer and would forward his name on to the White House, emails obtained by POLITICO show.
A White House spokesman said Cutter sent only that one email to Walpin, and knew nothing of the situation with Walpin at Americorps when she reached out to him on Sotomayor’s behalf.
Still, the emails offer a look behind the scenes of a Supreme Court nomination battle – where old acquaintances can emerge in hopes of being helpful to a possible future justice, and would-be justices hope that a lifetime’s worth of friends and supporters can help paint a picture of them as a worthy pick for the high court.
In this case, that chain of events began with a note from Walpin, inspector general of the Corporation for National Community Service, to Sotomayor just two days after Obama nominated her to the Supreme Court with an offer to testify on her behalf.
“I know that you are very busy and you needn’t even try to find time to reply,” wrote Walpin on May 28. “All I want you to know is that I reaffirm my offer – if you find it would be helpful – to put me on your list of persons to testify or submit opinions, etc. If there is any part that you feel I can play, just let me know. Meanwhile, I look forward to calling you Madame Justice!”
Twenty five minutes later, Sotomayor emailed back. “I am very grateful, as always, for your support. I have taken the liberty to copy your note to Stephanie Cutter, the White House Communications person.” The Supreme Court nominee closed on a personal note: “I will be in Washington a lot this summer, and if they spring me for dinner some night, I will call to see if you are around.”
The next day, Cutter, who is coordinating White House strategy on the Sotomayor nomination for the White House, emailed back with a quick note: “Jerry, what is the best way to reach you?”
Soon, Walpin received emails from the White House Office of Public Liaison with talking points and news of the day on the Sotomayor nomination. On June 2, Walpin was invited to join a 6 p.m. White House conference call on Sotomayor’s nomination. “Please DO NOT FORWARD this information,” the email instructed. “This call is by Invitation only, and there are a limited number of lines.”
A short time later, Walpin’s tenure at the Corporation for National Community Service came to an abrupt end. On June 11, Walpin received a call from Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform. Walpin was told he could resign or be fired. That same day, in a letter formally implementing the termination, Obama wrote, “it is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with this Inspector General.”
What happened between May 28 and June 11 is not entirely clear. Critics of the White House have alleged that Walpin was fired in retribution for his investigation of an ally of Obama’s, Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former Phoenix Suns basketball player. And after a brief controversy about whether the White House had followed the correct procedure in Walpin’s firing, administration officials offered up more detail about why they had soured on the 77-year-old Republican.
And more:
Eisen made a damaging allegation: “Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation,” Eisen wrote in a letter to senators Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine), with a copy directed to Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.).
“The Board’s action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009 Board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.”
Walpin and Sotomayor have known each other for years. In the early part of this decade, Walpin served as president of the Federal Bar Council, which is an association of lawyers who practice in the Second Circuit, where Sotomayor was a judge.
For his part, Walpin says he still supports Sotomayor, even though he feels his firing was inappropriate. And he says he’s submitted an op-ed piece endorsing her to the Washington Post. “I think they are wrong on what they did to me. But that’s not going to change my view about what is appropriate and right on Judge Sotomayor,” Walpin told POLITICO.
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