When Inspector Gerald Walpin was fired by Obama after he drew attention to fraud involving AmeriCorps Grants by the board of the Corporation for National Community , he was shoved out of his position. Obama reverted to his Chicago-style training by protecting one of his heavy contributors.
Walpin was investigating Barack Obama supporter Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star who's now mayor of Sacramento, Calif., for irregularities in use of federal money by St. HOPE, a charity he ran. Walpin was asked by the board of the Corporation for National and Community Service to investigate St. HOPE, which received an $850,000 AmeriCorps grant to tutor Sacramento students, redevelop buildings and develop art and theater programs.
Walpin found the money was used to sweeten St. HOPE staff salaries, get involved in a school board election and make AmeriCorps volunteers attend to Johnson's personal needs, including washing his car. In May 2008, Walpin's office recommended Johnson and a St. HOPE assistant be suspended from receiving federal money.
To ger rid of Walpin, the White House said that Walpin was disoriented and confused and questioned his capacity to serve. In response, Glenn Beck, of Fox News, invited the Inspector General to appear and then put him through a serious of tests to see if there was anything wrong with him mentally. Viewers could see that he was alert and of sound mind.
One person who was at the meeting afterwhich Walpin was fired, said that the board was hostile and rude to Walpin, interrupting him and going at him with questions on multiple issues. When Mr. Walpin left the meeting for 15 minutes, he came back to find his notepapers had been, mixing them up and the board refused to give him time to put them back in order.
The White House tried to cover its corrupt actions by claiming that Walpin was "absent from the Corporation's headquarters...over the objection of the board. But a witness at the meeting said that the arrangement for Walpin to telecommute from New York to the District office had been approved by the board. Other witness confirmed that it had been approved without a single objection.
The fact remains that an inspector general does not serve at the president's pleasure but can be removed only for a specified just cause. No legitimate cause has been given for the firing of AmeriCorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin.
When Obama was a politician in Chicago, with Mayor Daley covering his back, he could get away with almost anything without it being brought to the attention of the public. His association with people like Rezko, who is now in prison, was accepted as a way of doing business in the Windy city. While some newspapers and the media are in love with Obama and over look his bringing Chicago tactics to Washington, there are still a few reporters that are not taken in by the President's charm and continue to investigate his actions.
Martha R Gore, Examiner.com, 6/22/09
