White House Bribes

Just the way these Thugs work.

Hey folks,

Remember Blagojevich? He knew the game. He was stupid about it and the Obama Regime threw him under the bus, but he knew the game. Some even say that the White House WAS going to play ball with him until the heat was on. Then and NOW we have Rep. Joe Sestak. But NOW we are also learning about Andrew Romanoff. According to CNS, I love CNS, According to CNS - White House Now Says It Discussed USAID Position with Candidate Andrew Romanoff to 'Avoid Costly Battle' in Colorado Friday, June 04, 2010 By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer

(CNSNews.com) – The White House last fall denied that any job offer was made to Colorado Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff after reports first surfaced in the media. Now, the White House concedes that overtures were made to Romanoff about a job – but not an actual offer -- “to avoid a costly battle” with incumbent Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who has the backing of President Barack Obama.

On Sept. 27, 2009, The Denver Post reported that Jim Messina, Obama’s deputy chief of staff, had contacted the candidate and “suggested a place for Romanoff might be found in the administration and offered specific suggestions, according to several sources who described the communication to The Denver Post.”

I guess he did not rank high enough for Clinton. {Smile}

The paper also reported that “Romanoff turned down the overture” and that “the day after Romanoff formally announced his Senate bid, Obama endorsed Bennet.”

The story went on to quote White House spokesman Adam Abrams as saying, “Mr. Romanoff was never offered a position within the administration.”

There apparently was more to the story than the White House wanted to make public at the time.

On Wednesday, June 3, 2010, unnamed White House officials told the Associated Press that administration positions were “dangled” in front of Romanoff. Also, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs released a statement conceding that discussions occurred about an administration role for Romanoff to avoid a Democratic Senate primary battle in Colorado.

Still, both the White House and Romanoff maintain it was a discussion about a job and not an actual job offer.

See this is why they NEED Clinton. "It all depends on what IS is." "a discussion about a job," not an "offer?"

The revelations in Colorado come amid growing questions about the circumstances of an offer for an administration position for Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) as a means to encourage him to withdraw his primary challenge to Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter, also the favorite of the White House

In this case, an unnamed White House official “vociferously” denied that an offer was ever made to Sestak, according to the Feb. 19 edition of the Philadephia Inquirer. But three months later, on May 28, White House Counsel Robert Bauer released a memo that said White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel dispatched former President Bill Clinton to offer Sestak an unpaid position on a presidential advisory board to stay out of the Senate primary race in Pennsylvania.

Several Republican members of Congress have asserted that offering a job in exchange for dropping out of the primary would violate federal laws regarding corruption of federal appointment and interference with elections.

The Wednesday statement from Gibbs says the discussion of a role in the administration for Romanoff was not improper, but admitted it was designed to avoid a Democratic primary battle. Gibbs said that Romanoff initially applied for a position with USAID, the foreign aid agency.

{Laughing} "Yeah We did it. But there is nothing wrong when WE do it."

“Andrew Romanoff applied for a position at USAID during the Presidential transition. He filed this application through the Transition on-line process,” Gibbs said. “After the new administration took office, he followed up by phone with White House personnel.”

“Jim Messina called and e-mailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the US Senate,” Gibbs continued. “Months earlier, the president had endorsed Sen. Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.”

“But Romanoff said that he was committed to the Senate race and no longer interested in working for the Administration, and that ended the discussion,” Gibbs said. “As Mr. Romanoff has stated, there was no offer of a job.”

"No, no. No offer was made. Nope. See?" They really do think you are stupid folks.

In his own statement, Romanoff said there was “a great deal of misinformation.” He also produced an e-mail from Messina that described three positions with USAID: the deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and the Caribbean; the director for the Office of Democracy and Governance; and director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency.

“In September 2009, shortly after the news media first reported my plans to run for the Senate, I received a call from Jim Messina, the President's deputy chief of staff,” said Romanoff. “Mr. Messina informed me that the White House would support Sen. Bennet. I informed Mr. Messina that I had made my decision to run. Mr. Messina also suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race. He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions. At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina's assistance in obtaining one.”

“Later that day, I received an e-mail from Mr. Messina containing descriptions of three positions,” said Romanoff. “I left him a voicemail informing him that I would not change course. I have not spoken with Mr. Messina, nor have I discussed this matter with anyone else in the White House, since then.”

Chicago Politics folks. Thuggery, Bribes, and Corruption. How's that hope and change working out for ya?
Peter