Thread: EXCLUSIVE: White House asked Clinton to talk to Sestak

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-l ... _cl_1.html

"Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he'd be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation."

EXCLUSIVE: White House asked Clinton to talk to Sestak about Senate run

Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he'd be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation.

But the White House maintains that the Clinton-Sestak discussions were informal, according to the sources. The White House, under pressure to divulge the specifics of its interactions with Sestak, will release a formal statement later today outlining their version of events, including Clinton's involvement.

According to the sources, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asked Clinton and his longtime adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to talk to Sestak about the race. It's unclear right now whether the White House will say that Clinton was asked to suggest specific administration positions for Sestak, whether Clinton floated positions on his own, whether Clinton discussed other options not related to the adminstration, or whether employment even came up at all in the talks.

But the news that Clinton is at the center of this whole story is noteworthy on its own because of the former president's stature, and underscores how heavily invested the White House was in dissuading Sestak from running. The White House sent Clinton to talk to Sestak because Arlen Specter, constituting the 60th Dem vote in the Senate, was viewed as key to enacting Obama's agenda.

The White House maintains that Clinton's overtures to Sestak merely constituted an effort to gauge his seriousness about the race, the sources say, adding that Clinton was informally discussing the range of options open to Sestak as part of a larger conversation meant to ascertain Sestak's thinking.

I've been unable to ascertain precisely what Clinton discussed with Sestak in terms of his future options, but the release of the White House's formal response will clear that up.

By Greg Sargent | May 28, 2010; 9:49 AM ET
Categories: 2010 elections , Senate Dems

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/plum-l ... _cl_1.html

The Obama administration on Friday admitted that they tried to pull Rep. Joe Sestak out of the Pennsylvania Senate primary last year, but said they did so only through dangling unpaid positions on a board or commission and that they broke no laws or ethics rules.

A White House memo released midday Friday said that there was no “improprietyâ€

They are now saying he was offered an unpaid Presidential appointment to a Presidential advisory board.

This is huge news as it is still illegal to offer any kind of incentive and interfere with a primary race and is a misdemeanor crime.

The parties invloved are all complicit in a conspiracy to interfere with an election process. This could end up a scandal equal to the Watergate Scandal. The Whitehouse of course is trying to downplay this and their role. The million dollar question was how much was President Obama involved in this?

Can you say impeachment proceedings....

unpaid? yeah right, how is he suppose to pay his bills if its an unpaid position

Don't you all know the White House and its Allies are Above The Laws the rest of us must obey ?

Just another slimy taste of Chicago Politics.