Yesterday, Tom Balanoff, a high ranking Service Employees International Union (SEIU) official, dropped a bombshell while testifying in former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s corruption trial. Under oath, Balanoff said yesterday that he had direct contact the night before the election with then Senator Obama who made it known that he wanted family friend Valerie Jarrett to be appointed to his seat. The Chicago Sun-Times has a good synopsis of the testimony:

“Tom, I want to talk to you with regard to the Senate seat," Obama told him. 
Balanoff said Obama said he had two criteria: someone who was good for the citizens of Illinois and could be elected in 2010. Obama said he wasn't publicly coming out in support of anyone but he believed Valerie Jarrett would fit the bill. "I would much prefer she (remain in the White House) but she does want to be Senator and she does meet those two criteria," Balanoff said Obama told him. "I said: 'thank you, I'm going to reach out to Gov. ... more

Today on “Happening Now” Andrew Romanoff confirmed that Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina’s email came from a White House account.  As Robert Gibbs has said multiple times, the purpose of this outreach was to impact primary elections in order to benefit the Democrat party.  As every White House staffer learns on their first day, government resources are not to be used for political purposes.  It seems that the more we learn about the White House’s job offers the more apparent it is that the White House needs to open itself to a independent investigation. 

White House Says It Has An Interest In Avoiding Costly Party Primaries

ROBERT GIBBS: “Jim Messina called and emailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the US Senate.  Months earlier, the President had endorsed Senator Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle ... more

Even after White House memos and statements have been released, we still have questions for Secretary Robert Gibbs regarding the job offers to Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff.  What questions do you have?  Tweet your questions to @PressSec and use the hashtag #AskGibbs.

• The White House Still Doesn’t Get it: In his statement, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs concluded by saying, “Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.”  Isn’t that exactly the problem that raises concern with the phone call and the email?  Does every applicant to the Administration receive a call from the Deputy Chief of Staff?

• Dancing on a Legal Pin: Are we really to believe that the White House was trying to impact the Pennsylvania Senate race but didn’t offer a job, while in Colorado they offered three jobs but weren’t trying to impact the Senate race? 

• No D-Rahm-a Obama: Who is in charge of this Oval Office, President Obama or Rahm Emanuel?  If ... more
  
  

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Here We Go Again

Once Again, the White House and Joe Sestak Are on Different Pages

As if it was not already clear that the White House is incapable of policing itself and that an independent investigation was needed, simply compare Joe Sestak’s own account during a press conference on Friday versus the accounts coming from the White House. 

In his memo, White House General Counsel and President Obama’s personal attorney says the White House made multiple efforts in “June and July of 2009” to reach out to Congressman Sestak.  Today, at the White House press briefing Robert Gibbs confirmed that what was in the memo was accurate.  But on Friday, Joe Sestak said not once, but at least four times, that only one brief conversation occurred.

Despite months of stone-walling and behind-the-scenes effort to get on the same page, the two are still singing two different tunes.  It is clear that either the White House or Joe Sestak has a problem with the truth and that an ... more