JobsGate 2: Romanoff confirms WH “dangled” job offers to stay out of CO Senate race

Jake Tapper reports:

Andrew Romanoff, the former speaker of the Colorado house of representatives, issued a statement Wednesday evening claiming that the White House raised the possibility that he might be offered an administration job if he opted to not challenge incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo.

Romanoff also released what he said was an e-mail from White House deputy chief of staff Jim Messina outlining three possible jobs — deputy assistant administrator for Latin America and Caribbean for the U.S. Agency for International Development; director of the Office of Democracy and Governance at USAID; and director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency – he could have if he didn’t run.

Romanoff did not accept any of the offers, and currently is challenging Bennet, who has the endorsement of President Obama.

The White House did not comment. The statement comes as the White House attempts to distance itself from the controversy stemming from attempts – also unsuccessful – to convince Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., to not challenge Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa., in the Pennsylvania primary. Sestak ultimately defeated Specter.

I’m glad this news is seeing the light of day on a national scale – and of course we can always count on Jake Tapper and Major Garrett to do the digging most others in the MSM can but won’t (and props to the AP for their reporting on it today as well), but I have to ask: Seeing as that a much less detailed version of this story was reported in the Denver media back in September 2009, why has this only now been given the attention it deserved back then? Furthermore, why are the WH and the politicos in question – Sestak and Romanoff – being allowed to get away with skirting around the quid pro quo issue by issuing statements like “It wasn’t a paying position” and “No job offer was promised”? Instead of the DOJ launching criminal and civil investigations into the BP oil spill drama, they should be launching investigations into who said what to whom and when and what was promised – and who authorized it. I won’t hold my breath, though.

We have what appears to be at least two incidents of the office of the WH breaking federal law, and there were hints nine months ago about one of them. I don’t have to tell you how this would have played out had Bush still been President.

Whatever. It’s time for answers. Maybe after Rahmbo – who was directly involved in the coordinating of the Sestak job offer – has taken care of the little matter of being subpoenaed in the BlagoGate matter he’ll take the time to give us a few.

8 Responses to "JobsGate 2: Romanoff confirms WH “dangled” job offers to stay out of CO Senate race"

Warren Crocker Herrick says:

June 2, 2010 at 10:39 pm

I remember Watergate and this scandal has the same feel the way it’s starting to roll out.
Dave B says:

June 3, 2010 at 12:12 am

Warren: I agree. If it took them four months to come up with the “story” about the non-paying advisory job that he was not elibigle for to begin with then one can suspect that this is a lot worse than anyone realizes and it’s going to take a bunch of politicians down with it. A five year old could figure out that if that was what happened that Sestak would not have dodged the particulars for so long and the White House could have cleaned it up within the first day the story broke. I’m so cynical and suspicious I’m wondering what deal the Clintons brokered to use the “Presidential deference” excuse they supplied to Sestek. Anybody taking bets that Biden decides to retire before 2012 and Hillary takes his place?
Carlos says:

June 3, 2010 at 12:39 am

A couple of things to remember here. First is that, because of the complete moral relativity ensconced in the jackass backbone, they can do no wrong; all they have to do to make anything “legitimate” in their own lives is to change the playing field, goal posts, etc. Makes life a lot easier if one doesn’t have to worry about wrongdoing if one can do no wrong by definition.

Second, who is going to investigate and/or prosecute these things? Certainly not the Republicans. The totality of backbone in the combined congressional Republican backbone is that of a squid. And Holder? He’s still too busy getting all the filework on the real terrorists, TEA party people and Christians.

And Nazi Pelousy’s pat answer to why she won’t appoint a special investigator (a la Fitzgerald) will be, “Are you serious?”
Kate says:

June 3, 2010 at 6:40 am

You as so right Carlos! As far as the WH and the DNC is concerned this is all just fine and politics as usual. I heard Krauthamer say that he didn’t see much importance in this for the very same reason.

That being said, if this is “so normal” why did Stesak fire the first salvo and bring up this issues when he was opposing Spector? That to me is the big question. Something very untoward is going on here…or Stestak’s lust for power and wanting to bring down Spector overshadowed his “party loyalty”. A thorough investigation is warranted. Another question, why would the DOJ want to shoot Obama in the other foot?
nina says:

June 3, 2010 at 8:08 am

They were selling votes for cash in the senate . This may be their way of doing business but it’s illegal. Hopefully the ballot box will be their trial because Holder won’t prosecute any of this mess/
Carlos says:

June 3, 2010 at 9:08 am

Maybe Sleazetak didn’t bring it up during the campaign and hammer Specter with it because there was more involved in it.

Like maybe he was in fact the WH’s man all along? He just needed to make people aware that he’s really the “anti-establishment candidate” here in spite of the admin saying they supported his opponent?

The Hussein/Holder/Rahmbo axis of evil would think along those lines because they could tell a year ago that Specter wouldn’t win in any race, let alone the Republican primary.
Great White Rat says:

June 3, 2010 at 12:01 pm

This is what Obama meant when he said he was going to “create jobs”….
Jo says:

June 3, 2010 at 6:49 pm

They will continue to bribe, lie, cheat, meet in the back rooms appeasing union members and, obviously, political candidates, and NOTHING will be done until the WORKING taxpayers EN MASSE wake up and smell the coffee and decide enough is enough and DEMAND accountability. Will that happen during this ‘administration’ if you can even call it that–I call it the worst travesty we have ever experienced–I doubt it. The complacency, the brainwashing by the liberal media and the ‘celebrities’ elevated to the status of gods, the indocrination parading as education and the impotency of the current Republican party (among them mostly Dems-light) has all created a perfect storm for them to at least try to destroy the free market economy, Democracy and the American way of life. If something doesn’t stop them, it’s over.

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