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Republicans Want FBI Investigation of Bill Clinton, White House, and Sestak Offer

1 year ago
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Rep. Darrell Issa, the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, Friday asked the FBI to begin a criminal investigation into efforts by the White House to convince Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.) to drop out of the Pennsylvania Democratic primary race against Sen. Arlen Specter.

Issa sent the request to FBI Director Robert Mueller hours after Bob Bauer, the White House counsel, released a report on the controversy. It revealed that former President Bill Clinton, acting on a White House request, approached Sestak with the suggestion that he drop out of the Pennsylvania Democratic Senate primary in exchange for an unpaid position on a presidential or other senior executive branch advisory board in the Obama administration.

Bauer also reported that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel enlisted Clinton's help in approaching Sestak, but states that no White House staff were involved in the discussions with the congressman. In the end, Bauer states, "allegations of improper conduct rest on factual errors and lack a basis in the law."

On Friday, Issa called Bauer's report "not credible" and said, "it raises more questions than it answers."

In his letter to the FBI chief, Issa wrote, "Assurances by the Obama administration that no laws were broken are like the Nixon White House promising that its did nothing illegal in connection with Watergate. Clearly an independent investigation is necessary to determine what really happened."

Bauer characterized the White House's actions as ethical and legal. But Issa told Mueller that he believes Bauer's own description of what happened would violate at least three federal laws designed to prevent political patronage from influencing federal elections.

The Bauer report came after months of speculation and increasing pressure on the White House by Republicans and even some Democrats to explain allegations that the White House tried to persuade Sestak to drop his primary challenge to Specter.

In February The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that the host of a Sunday news-analysis show asked Sestak if the White House had offered him a job to drop his Senate primary challenge to Specter. Sestak said it had. When asked if the job was Secretary of the Navy, Sestak, a retired Navy admiral, said, "No comment." Sestak beat Specter in this primary.

In his report, Bauer denied that Sestak was ever offered the Navy Secretary job, and said that all of the federal positions that Clinton described to Sestak would have been unpaid and something Sestak would do in addition to serving in Congress.

On Friday, Sestak released a brief written statement, saying that Bill Clinton called him once and "expressed concern over my prospects if I were to remain in the Senate race." He also confirmed that Clinton told him that Emanuel and Clinton had discussed roles for Sestak in the Obama administration if he were to quit the election.

Although President Obama has not responded to the Bauer report, he did address the Sestak job offer at a press conference on Thursday, saying, "I can assure the public that nothing improper took place."

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ettu

I think one small change to your article would be: Americans (not just Republicans) want these matters investigated. If this is the way it has always been done, then politicians have been ignoring our laws for too long. Time for a change. Why should the voters be denied a choice of candidates by the entrenched politicians who believe it should be their choice? We want integrity, we want all who desire public service to have the chance to serve.

June 02 2010 at 9:51 AM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
getgary01

So let me see if I understand this, we have laws on books which makes this illegal. Yet the defenders are saying everyone does this in Washington. Why do we have these laws?

June 01 2010 at 7:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
whitleybeal

Sestak when he announced it said... Someone in the WH offered him a job. Then after the election he clams up ...took that long for them to scam a kinda believeable story... The WH ... Clinton is not part of this WH. if it had been Clinton I think he would have said another higher dem offical...so, why such a secret if it had been clinton why didnt he just say so if there wasn't any wrong doing? I don't think I have ever seen such spin and shift that this admin. has done and still doing.

June 01 2010 at 3:33 PM Report abuse +2 rate up rate down Reply
juddty

It doesn't matter which side of the aisle does something considered illegal, this should be investigated. Obama was the one who claimed this administration would be transparent. All I have seen is dishonesty, bribery (healthcare), tax evasion (Rangel, Geitner), cover-ups, and constant flipflopping and outright lies. If the Bush administration did something wrong then they need to be investigated as well. We as Americans want honesty and integrity brought back to our government. How can the government go after others when they are guilty of many of the same things they are prosecuting others for? If we had evaded taxes like Rangel has, we would be fined and jailed, where is the investigation into this man who is on the powerful Way and Means committee?

June 01 2010 at 11:56 AM Report abuse +3 rate up rate down Reply
getgary01

I don't know about Republicans but this Independent wants an investigation of this matter. I don't buy the excuse that "this is normal politics" in Washington. If it is politics as usual, why do we have LAWS AGAINST IT?

May 31 2010 at 12:14 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
nokabosh

If he wasn't offered the Sec Nav job you would think Sestak could have said so, then clamed up about what he was offered.

May 30 2010 at 10:54 PM Report abuse +4 rate up rate down Reply
lolattoadies

The cover up is usually worse than the crime. And so will it be in this case. A little hint to democrats, if you're looking for a credible witness to complete the cover up scenario you design, I don't think Slick Willy is the way to go.

May 30 2010 at 8:14 AM Report abuse +7 rate up rate down Reply
Rob & Kathy

So do quite a few Democrats. How do you like Obama's "transparency" and "change"? It only took 3 months to address the issue....

May 29 2010 at 11:31 PM Report abuse +9 rate up rate down Reply
marktmurphy5

I was content to pass on this as government de rigueur until the WH explanation came out. (de rigueur used for our democratic readers as they love all things french) However the suggestion that Sestack might be willing to pass on a Senate run for an unpaid position/job/occupation/career/trade/slot/appointment/vocation/whatever is an condenscending insult to the public. If the WH wanted an investigation this was precisely the way to go about begging for it.

May 29 2010 at 5:57 PM Report abuse +10 rate up rate down Reply
whalebale

Americans deserve to know the truth of what happens in the White House. It doesn't matter if you're a Dem or GOP and it's the media's responsibility to report the truth.

Media bias is totally out of control and it's wonder why there are any news stations or newspaper existing.

May 29 2010 at 12:20 PM Report abuse +17 rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to whalebale's comment
hairhofla

Yea..like they found out the "truth" about Valerie Plame and Cheney's energy conference of 2003...AND the intel that led up to the Iraq War????

May 29 2010 at 2:26 PM Report abuse -16 rate up rate down Reply

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