More Then Most of Us Want to Know About IG Gerald Walpin
President Obama’s decision to fire the Inspector General of the AmeriCorps Gerald Walpin is a snooze fest, but the Right seems to think this is the worse abuse of Presidential power since Watergate. They conveniently ignore the HUD scandals of the Reagan administration, Iran-Contra, Bush’s use of the US Department of Justice as a tool of the RNC for vote caging and conservative crony welfare. Proving once again that the new Republican party, like the old Republican party cannot get its priorities straight. First there was an objection to the way Walpin was terminated. President Obama straightened that out by suspending Walpin for thirty days with full pay. Time in which members of Congress like Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa who has shed more tears over poor Gerald then he has over the troops that died in Iraq for Bush’s lies.
As we all know the average rightwing skull is resistant to any reality that does not bend to the “alternate reality” spun by such rags as the Washington Times and Fox News. Walpin was removed after a unanimous request from the AmeriCorps board of directors where the co-chair is a Republican. Norm Eisen, the president’s ethics counsel reported “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.” Again, if Walpin or his supporters have evidence compelling enough to get a reversal of the Broad’s and the presidents opinion, they have time to do so. We also know that a Bush appointee Acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Lawrence Brown “had filed a complaint about Mr. Walpin’s conduct with the oversight body for Inspectors General, including for failing to disclose exculpatory evidence.” – in regards to Walpin’s investigation into St Hope and some federal funds they received. Perhaps most starling about Walpin’s conduct of which little is mentioned is that he wrote two editorials ran by the SacBee in which Walpin played trial by media. He appointed himself judge and jury. He laid out what evidence he thought he had. IGs authority extends to investigating and reporting their findings to the DOJ and Congress, not to carry on what appeared to be a kind of vendetta against Mayor Kevin Johnson ( while Johnson is a Democrat, from what research I’ve done into his governing style and policy positions I can’t say I’m a big fan. Why he wanted to get into politics is beyond me – it doesn’t suit his personality). Anyway imagine a Democratic IG writing editorials about a Republican mayoral candidate just before an election. Creating a situation in which the Republican has no recourse to defend himself in the legal arena of a courtroom where he can face his accusers and charges with appropriate legal counsel. Walpin was not willing to had off his findings to the California branch of the DOJ for them to evaluate and proceed with criminal charges, Walpin decided to side step our legal system and hold his own little court. Walpin did all of this without even conducting a proper audit as claimed by a Republican US attorney,
In August 2008, Walpin referred the matter to the local U.S. attorney’s office, which said the watchdog’s conclusions seemed overstated and did not accurately reflect all the information gathered in the investigation.
“We also highlighted numerous questions and further investigation they needed to conduct, including the fact that they had not done an audit to establish how much AmeriCorps money was actually misspent,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence Brown said in an April 29 letter to the federal counsel of inspectors general.
Walpin’s office made repeated public comments just before the Sacramento mayoral election, prompting the U.S. attorney’s office to inform the media that it did not intend to file any criminal charges.
In settling the case, the government agreed to lift its suspension of any future grants to the academy and Johnson agreed to immediately repay $73,000 in past grants. The academy was given 10 years to repay the remaining $350,000.
Brown said at the time of the settlement that prosecutors determined there was no fraud, but rather a culture of “sloppiness” in St. HOPE’s record-keeping.
Kevin Hiestand, chairman of the board of St. HOPE Academy, said in a statement it was “about time” Walpin was removed. “Mr. Walpin’s allegations were meritless and clearly motivated by matters beyond an honest assessment of our program,” he said.
Its also difficult not to connect the dots between Walpin’s past statements and his zealous fixation on Mayor Johnson and disrespect toward the President,
Romney also took heat yesterday when he did not swiftly disavow the remarks of Federalist Society member Gerald Walpin, who introduced Romney by praising him for fighting against what he called the ”modern-day KKK . . . the Kennedy-Kerry Klan.”
”Today, when most of the country thinks of who controls Massachusetts, I think the modern-day KKK comes to mind, the Kennedy-Kerry Klan,” Walpin, who sits on the society’s board of visitors, said to hearty laughter.
Thus far Walpin wants the Right, the media or anyone that will listen to ignore his sloppy gathering of evidence regarding St Hope – according to the US Attorney’s office lacked any evidence of maliciousness or corrupt intent. Walpin wants everyone to ignore his rabid Right behavior in describing two distinguished US senators, both decorated veterans. Walpin wants everyone to ignore that he thought it was just fine to phone in his work from home. Walpin wants everyone to ignore his erratic behavior, confirmed by a Republican board member. Walpin also wants everyone to believe he is being attacked because he was out to save the tax payers money – if that was his motivation why did someone with such an extensive legal resume do such an alarmingly careless job of fact finding and violating the legal guidelines of his job with his trial by media campaign.
