The Associated Press: Obama to fire inspector general of AmeriCorps

The Associated Press: Obama to fire inspector general of AmeriCorps

Anyone who disagrees with Obama or his associates is to be punished. This is becoming as much a fascist regime as Nazi Germany.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama plans to fire the inspector general who investigates AmeriCorps and other national service programs amid a controversy between the IG and Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star.



The IG, Gerald Walpin, was criticized by the U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and his nonprofit group, which received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National Community Service. The corporation runs the AmeriCorps program.

On Thursday, Obama said in a letter to Congress that he had lost confidence in Walpin. Neither the president nor deputy White House press secretary Josh Earnest would give details.

The president must give Congress 30 days' notice before removing Walpin, who is being suspended with pay for the 30 days. Earnest said, "The president will appoint a replacement in whom he has full confidence as the corporation carries out its important mission."

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in a letter to Obama, pointed to a law requiring that Congress be given the reasons why an IG is fired. He cited a Senate report saying the requirement is designed to ensure that inspectors general are not removed for political reasons.

Grassley said Walpin had identified millions of dollars in AmeriCorps funds that were wasted or misspent and "it appears he has been doing a good job."

White House counsel Gregory Craig, in a reply to Grassley, cited a letter from the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento to the Inspector General Council's integrity committee about how Walpin handled Johnson's case during the time when Johnson also was running for mayor.

"We are aware of the circumstances leading to that referral and of Mr. Walpin's conduct throughout his tenure and can assure you that the president's decision was carefully considered," Craig wrote.

Messages left for Walpin seeking comment were not immediately returned.

The IG found that Johnson, a former all-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, had used AmeriCorps grants to pay volunteers to engage in school-board political activities, run personal errands for Johnson and even wash his car.

In August 2008, Walpin referred the matter to the local U.S. attorney's office, which said the IG's conclusions seemed overstated and did not accurately reflect all the information gathered in the investigation.

"We also highlighted numerous questions and further investigation they needed to conduct, including the fact that they had not done an audit to establish how much AmeriCorps money was actually misspent," the U.S. attorney's office said in an April 29 letter to the federal counsel of inspectors general.

Walpin's office made repeated public comments just before the Sacramento mayoral election, prompting the U.S. attorney's office to inform the media that it did not intend to file any criminal charges.

The U.S. attorney's office reached a settlement in the matter. Brown cited press accounts that said Johnson and the nonprofit would repay half of nearly $850,000 in grants it received.

Ken Bach, who works in the inspector general's office at the corporation, will be acting inspector general until Obama appoints someone to the position.

Walpin, a New York attorney, was appointed by President George W. Bush and sworn into office in January 2007 after being confirmed by the Senate, according to a news release on AmeriCorps' Web site. Walpin graduated from College of the City of New York in 1952 and received a law degree in 1955 from Yale Law School. He was a partner with the New York City law firm Katten Muchin and Rosenman LLP for more than 40 years.

On Wednesday night, Alan Solomont, a Democrat and the board chairman of the government-run corporation, and Stephen Goldsmith, a Republican and the board's vice chair, said they backed the president's decision.

In a written statement, Solomont and Goldsmith said: "We strongly endorse the president's decision with respect to Inspector General Gerald Walpin. We look forward to working with a new inspector general."
On the Net:

* Johnson speaks on behalf of Obama: http://www.youtube.com/watch?vmu7cDShVckg


A brief of the credentials of the man being fired shows he is imminently qualified, only that he went after one of Obama's supporters is his downfall.

Gerald Walpin, the Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service, has pursued a vigorous effort to investigate and prosecute all persons who betray the public’s trust by defrauding the Corporation and its programs.

A prominent New York attorney, Walpin was nominated by President George W. Bush, confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn into office on January 8, 2007. He leads the Office of Inspector General (OIG), an independent Federal agency charged with oversight over the taxpayer supported Corporation and its service programs, including AmeriCorps, Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and Senior Corps. “My major objective is to expand upon the good work of this office by preventing, detecting and prosecuting all thefts and frauds,” said Walpin. “The reality is that such misconduct takes precious resources away from deserving people, the same way the theft of a welfare check hurts a single mother who needs that money to buy milk for her children. For that reason, this office will seek out and ensure sanctions for all wrongdoing involving Corporation funds.”

Walpin said his other major goal is to “assist the Corporation in making its services efficient and accessible for all national service stakeholders.”

A New York City native, Walpin graduated from College of the City of New York in 1952. He earned his law degree, cum laude, in 1955 from Yale Law School, where he was managing editor of the Yale Law Journal. From 1957-60, he served as a lieutenant in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General.

His career included a five-year stint as Chief of Prosecutions for the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he successfully prosecuted a number of high-profile cases. He spent more than 40 years as senior partner and, more recently, of counsel to New York-based Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP.

Mr. Walpin has represented a wide range of clients, including large public corporations, securities brokerage firms, accounting firms, law firms, banks in lender liability claims, and individuals, both American and foreign, in securities litigations, employment litigations, criminal prosecutions, and investigations by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Both as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and in his law firm, he was frequently called upon to investigate fraudulent conduct.

Included in the published compilation “The Best Lawyers in America,” Mr. Walpin served from 20022004 as president of the Federal Bar Council, the association of attorneys practicing in the Second Circuit Federal courts. In 2003, he was honored with the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for outstanding professionalism as an attorney and for mentoring younger lawyers.

Walpin and his wife Sheila, married for more than 50 years, have three children and six grandchildren.