The New Media Journal | Obama Accused of Doing Favors for Ally

The New Media Journal | Obama Accused of Doing Favors for Ally: "A GOP congressional report accuses the White House of doing favors for Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a former NBA star and prominent ally of President Barack Obama.

The report was spearheaded by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the ranking member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The investigation also found evidence that DC schools chief Michelle Rhee handled 'damage control' after allegations surfaced of sexual misconduct against Johnson, her now-fiancé.

The probe was launched after an AmeriCorps inspector general, Gerald Walpin, was abruptly fired in June by White House lawyer Norm Eisen. Walpin, who was appointed to his position during the Bush administration, was pursuing allegations that Johnson misused some of the $800,000 in federal AmeriCorps money provided to St. Hope Academy, a nonprofit school he headed for several years.

Among the accusations: AmeriCorps-paid volunteers ran personal errands for Johnson, washed his car and engaged in political activities...

During the course of Walpin's investigation into Johnson's activities, according to the Grassley-Issa report, Walpin's team received complaints that Johnson made inappropriate advances toward three young woman involved in the St. Hope program and that Johnson offered at least one of those young women hush money.

In one particularly incendiary passage in the report, one of the girls who had accused Johnson of inappropriately touching her said she told federal agents that he offered to pay her $1,000 a month to keep quiet.

Johnson’s spokesman vehemently denied the reports charges."