David Harsanyi tells us that the Sestak bribe may be part of a pattern. He joins me and Charles Krauthammer in at first believing that the offer of a government job in return for a political act was not a crime ... in fact it was politics as usual.
Political payoffs are so commonplace in Washington that I was initially unable to muster an appropriate level of outrage at hearing that Rep. Joe Sestak had accused the Obama administration of offering him a job in exchange for his withdrawal from the Pennsylvania Democratic senatorial primary.
But it turns out not to be the case.
After reading the law in question (you see the entire thing online by searching for: "US Code -- Section 600: Promise of employment or other benefit for political activity"), it is clear that any offer of a job "directly or indirectly ... to any person as consideration, favor, or reward for any political activity ... in connection with any general or special election to any political office,or in connection with any primary election" is an illegal act.
And in case you thought that this reading of the law is partisan, here is proof that it's not ...
President Barack Obama's senior advisor David Axelrod explain to CNN's John King that though there was "no evidence" (hey, if the administration's senior advisor claims there is no evidence we should move along) if such an offer were made, it would constitute "a serious breach of the law."
Which brings us to the question: who's lying, Sestak or Obama? Let's see if there's a pattern:
If the Democratic Party's choice for the Senate in Pennsylvania is a fabulist -- as Axelrod is effectively saying -- why does Sestak's story sound so familiar to one in the Democratic Senate primary in Colorado?
In a September 2009 article headlined "D.C. job alleged as attempt to deter Romanoff," the Denver Post's Michael Riley reported that Andrew Romanoff, former speaker of the Colorado House, then still contemplating a run again against the governor-installed administration-sanctioned foot solider Michael Bennet, received an "unexpected communication" from a renowned kingmaker in Washington.
"Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff and a storied fixer in the White House political shop," wrote Riley at the time, "suggested a place for Romanoff might be found in the administration and offered specific suggestions, according to several sources who described the communication to The Denver Post."
It's beginning to be clear that Team Obama wanted to clear the decks for its candidates. Once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, more than that is a pattern. My bet is that Sestak's telling the truth. I wonder if anyone will be frog marched out of the West Wing?
Silly me, Holder the Fixer is Attorney General. The Fix is in.
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