Thread: White House may think this is politics as usual, it isn't

[quote]
Two Members of Congress Say That If Administration Offered Sestak Job to Drop Senate Race It Could Be a Crime
Friday, March 12, 2010
By Fred Lucas, Staff Writer


Rep. Joe Sestak (D.-Pa.) is challenging Sen. Arlen Specter in Pennsylvania's Democratic U.S. Senate primary. (AP Photo/George Widman)
Washington (CNSNews.com) – Two members of Congress said this week that someone in the White House may have committed a crime if they offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) an administration job in exchange for him not running in Pennsylvania’s Democratic senate primary against Sen. Arlen Specter, an allegation that Sestak said was true.

Meanwhile, despite several media inquiries over the last few weeks and the comgressmens’ statments, the White House continues to withhold comment on the matter.

Sestak’s opponent in the primary, Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the top Republican on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, both said this week that if Sestak’s claim is true, such a job offer could constitute a federal crime.

Specter specifically said it would constitute bribery, while Issa referenced three sections of the U.S. code on the matter.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs has repeatedly declined to confirm or deny Sestak’s allegation. He did so again on Thursday, Mar. 11, even after the two members of Congress said criminal conduct could have been involved. However, the Philadelphia Inquirer previously reported that an unnamed White House source had denied Sestak’s claim.

This week, Sestak reaffirmed on MSNBC’s Morning Joe what he claimed in other TV interviews: That he was offered a job with the Obama administration if he would drop his challenge to Specter, a former Republican who switched parties in early 2009.

“Something happened last July before I got in the race and I never got asked about it, since someone asked me,â€

Wow. This looks pretty serious for the White House.