Gerald Walpin, the AmeriCorps inspector general who was recently fired by the White House, has shot back at his former bosses over the dismissal — but he hasn’t done much to undo the impression that he’s far from an independent, non-partisan figure.
Last night, the White House sent a letter to Congress explaining why it fired Walpin. Ethics counsel Norm Eisen wrote Walpin, 78, was “confused” and “disoriented” at a recent board meeting, that he had been absent from the office, and that he had shown a “lack of candor” in providing information to decision-makers. That seemed to refer to a formal complaint issued by a local US Attorney regarding Walpin’s work on a probe of the Obama ally, Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson. The complaint charged Walpin with, among other things, withholding from the US Attorney’s office pertinent information he had obtained.
Now, in an interview with FOXNews.com. Walpin called the “lack of candor” charge “a total lie,” and repeated his contention that he was fired for daring to go hard after Johnson, an Obama supporter.
As for the explanation that Walpin was confused at a meeting, he responded, improbably, by referencing a verbal slip-up that Barack Obama made during the campaign, which conservatives tried unsuccessfully to make hay out of at the time.
Said Walpin: “I would never say President Obama doesn’t have the capacity to continue to serve because of his (statement) that there are 56 states.” And he added that same is true for Vice President Joe Biden and his “many express confusions that have been highlighted by the media.”
And he amped up the level of rhetoric, declaring: “I am now the target of the most powerful man in this country, with an army of aides whose major responsibility today seems to be to attack me and get rid of me.”
Not exactly a picture of the kind of dignified, apolitical watchdog that you’d want for an IG.
As for the absentee charge, Walpin said that CNCS had agreed to allow him to work from home. He said he had planned to resign before Obama took office because his wife objected to his weekly commuting from New York to Washington. But he reconsidered after coming to an agreement with the board allowing him to come to the capital twice or more a eek, and work from home the rest of the time. He said he had “never had a single objection” to the arrangement until the White House’s letter.
We certainly haven’t heard the last of this.
