Tuesday, December 15, 2009
What at first simply seemed like a situation where Alan Solomont (Democrat mega-donor and nominee for Ambassador to Spain) was simply caught in the middle of a spat between Democrats and Republicans in an inappropriate firing scandal, is now turning in to a real cover-up in which Solomont is intimately involved. Byron York has the details, and they are worth reading carefully, as we see Solomont squirming and giving less than satisfactory answers before a Congressional committee: Did AmeriCorps official lie about possible First Lady link to IG firing?
Congressional investigators looking into the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin have discovered that the head of AmeriCorps met with a top aide to First Lady Michelle Obama the day before Walpin was removed.
According to Republican investigators, Alan Solomont, then the chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, had denied meeting with Jackie Norris, at the time the First Lady's chief of staff. But recently-released White House visitor logs show that Solomont met with Norris on June 9 of this year (as well as on two earlier occasions). President Obama fired Walpin on June 10 after an intense dispute over Walpin's aggressive investigation of misuse of AmeriCorps money by Obama political ally Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, California.
After being presented with the visitor logs, investigators say, Solomont explained that he met with Norris to discuss Corporation business but did not discuss the Walpin matter. When pressed, Solomont said he might have made an offhand comment, or a mention in passing, about the Walpin affair, but that he and Norris did not have a discussion about it.
Solomont's explanations have left both Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and Sen. Charles Grassley, top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, frustrated and vowing to continue their investigation of the Walpin matter. In a letter to Solomont, sent Friday, Issa wrote that he has "serious questions about the veracity of your...testimony." In a statement Saturday, Grassley said he is "concerned about the accuracy and completeness of Mr. Solomont's answers to questions."
Issa's letter to Solomont laid out in detail the sequence of events that led investigators to suspect there were problems with Solomont's testimony. According to the letter, as well as discussions with knowledgeable sources, this is what happened...
Head over to the link to find out what happened. It's becoming more and more clear that this is a typical case of government corruption. Change.
