Will Obama’s Firing of an Inspector General Evolve Into a Major Scandal?

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

This didn’t take long.

Not six months on the job yet and President Obama could be facing a major political scandal.

Last Wednesday, a man named Gerald Walpin, a U.S. inspector general investigating the possible misuse of Americorps funds, received a surprise call from the Obama White House informing him was fired. The firing was seen by some as politically motivated and highly illegal.

By law the president has the power to fire inspectors general whose jobs require them to audit and investigate fraud within the government independent from influence by the executive and legislative branches.

But Walpin claims that he was fired without warning, and would be a clear violation of the 2008 Inspectors General Reform Act, a law requiring the president to provide the Congress with a written explanation of cause a minimum of 30 days before firing an inspector general. The Obama White House did not do this. Walpin said he was given one hour to resign or be fired. When Walpin refused to resign, Obama sent letters to the House and Senate saying that he was firing Walpin, effective in 30 days. Obama stated in the letters:

“It is vital that I have the fullest confidence in the appointees serving as Inspectors General. That is no longer the case with regard to this Inspector General.”

Which begs the question, why would Obama fire Gerald Walpin? An elderly man who, by most accounts, has a long history of esteemed government service. He is a Republican, but doesn’t appear to be an ideologue. He has worked to convict Republicans of wrong-doing over the course of his career, including some in the Nixon administration, and says he’s been helping the White House prepare Sonia Sotomayor, a person he said he admires greatly, for her upcoming confirmation hearings.

One explanation comes courtesy of Byron York:

Senate sources now believe Obama fired Gerald Walpin over his investigation of Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and a prominent supporter of the president. Johnson, who went on to become the mayor of Sacramento, CA, started a non-profit organization called St. Hope. The group’s mission, according to its website, is, “to revitalize inner-city communities through public education, civic leadership, economic development and the arts.” As part of its work, St. Hope received a grant of about $850,000 from AmeriCorps.

Last year, Walpin began an investigation of how Johnson’s group spent the money. According to the Associated Press, “[Walpin] found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car.” Walpin asked Federal prosecutors to investigate. In April, the U.S. attorney in Sacramento, a Bush holdover, declined to file any criminal charges in the matter and also criticized Walpin’s investigation.

That might suggest that St. HOPE was OK, and it was Walpin who was in the wrong. But at the same time prosecutors decided not to file any charges against St. HOPE, the U.S. attorney’s office also entered into a settlement with St. HOPE in which the group also agreed to pay back about half of the $850,000 it had received from AmeriCorps.

The bottom line: Gerald Walpin accused a prominent Obama supporter of misusing AmeriCorps grant money. After an investigation, the prominent Obama supporter had to repay back more than $400,000 of the grant money and Obama fired the inspector general who shined light on the matter in the first place .

Stay tuned.