Sestak Timeline
[Guest post by DRJ]
Doug Ross posts the Sestak Timeline, including a link to the Larry Kane interview question that started it all:
“So how did it happen? How did a straightforward question and blunt answer bring anxiety to the White House? I’ll tell you the story.For over three months now, friends and others have asked me to recount the events of February 18th of this year, when a single question from me to Congressman Joe Sestak unleashed a controversy that remains to this day. Is it a political issue? Is it illegal? I can’t answer those questions, but I can tell you how casually it all happened, and what basis I had for asking the question,
“Were you ever offered a job to get out of this race? (The contest against Arlen Specter).
Sestak didn’t flinch .
“Yes,” he answered.
“Was it Navy Secretary?”, I asked
“No comment.”
He proceeded to talk about staying in the race but added that “he was called many times” to pull out.
Later, I asked, “So you were offered a job by someone in the White House?”
He said, “Yes.”
When the taping stopped, Joe Sestak looked surprised .
“You are the first person who ever asked me that question.”
***
I called the White House Press Office. I played the interview for the individual who answered the phone. She said someone would call me back. A few minutes later, another individual called. She said the White House would call back with a reaction “shortly.” That was 3:45 in the afternoon.The report aired all night without a White House response.
At 6:45 the next morning, 15 hours later, a Deputy Press Secretary called. She said, “You can say the White House says it’s not true.”
As Kane asks, why did it take the White House 15 hours to issue a denial?
— DRJ
Meanwhile Holly and Will sneak into the Mist Marsh where the Sestak dares not follow.
happyfeet (c8caab) — 5/29/2010 @ 10:01 pmPat Toomey is a very impressive guy. Sestak will find that out soon. He has several issues to deal with.
Also, I expect Specter to get his revenge on the Kagan nomination. Are these Obama people ready for the big time ?
Mike K (67e8ce) — 5/29/2010 @ 10:16 pmThe White House has a difficult time keeping track of all of the lies that they are a party to.
AD - RtR/OS! (36a650) — 5/29/2010 @ 11:31 pmWhat’s the big deal, anyone can understand how attractive it would be for a guy with his eye on the Senate to drop out of the race in exchange for an unpaid nuisance job on an unnamed advisory committee.
If the White House was actually trying to bribe Congressmen Sestak, they would have offered something of real value, like tickets to Disneyland, or a night on the town with Elena Kagan.
ropelight (ca1612) — 5/30/2010 @ 8:54 amWill the “Big Media” do its job? Or will they (with a few minor exceptions) continue to act as court stenographers for King Obama?
GeneralMalaise (67df13) — 5/30/2010 @ 9:30 amWhat were the White House’s interests in this whole thing? First, they had a deal with Specter to support him. His support was necessary for Obamacare, so it is in their interest to keep him on the team for as long as possible. Secondly, they want the strongest possible Democrat to emerge from the primary so they have their best shot at that seat. Specter clearly would not be that person. He was despised by Republicans, and Democrats only liked him to the extent that he betrayed Republicans. But, given a choice, the base would much prefer, and turn out to vote for, a true blue Democrat.
So, if events could be arranged so that Specter believed the White House was backing him per their deal, and yet he was still to lose, the White House would get all they wanted.
Now let’s look at what unfolded. Sestak lets it “slip” that he has received this inducement (rumored to be SecNav but never confirmed) to drop out, but refuses. Specter thinks the White House has made a good faith effort to clear the field for him, when in reality, it was all a show for his benefit. Now it comes out there was never any real offer at all.
The only problem left for the White House is getting out from under the allegations they violated the law without using the defense that the law was never really violated because of just how duplicitous their behavior really was.
Anon Y. Mous (294d4b) — 5/30/2010 @ 11:09 amThe timeline is good but leaves out the meeting where Rahm suggested to Obama that he could have Clinton say he talked to Sestak about some phoney-baloney non-paying position.
Bauer looked through his files and said that would be story number 2. He wanted to go with the first story where Sestak said he was given a written job offer from a Lucy Ramirez but that he burned the original document. Dan Rather and Mary Mapes would back up his account.
MU789 (bf47e4) — 5/30/2010 @ 12:25 pmI don’t know that the big deal is. According to Gov Ed Rendell, this sort of thing happens all the time and he does it himself. I presume it is because Rendell is a Democrat and therefore doesn’t need to concern himself with piddly details like breaking three federal laws.
And this was the party that was going to clean up the swamp? More like triple the size of the swamp and increase the population of bottom dwellers.
iconoclast (bbd5ee) — 5/30/2010 @ 1:40 pmIconoclast no federal laws were broken. I’m curious as to why Patterico is even posting about this story, as a lawyer I’m sure he understands this is much ado about nothing and there was no quid pro quo here. Reagan did the same thing during his term with Senator Hayakawa. This very thing has happened since the founding of this country. Find something else to focus on.
[Comment released from the filter. Bob: I wrote this post, not Patterico. But I’m sure you knew that. — DRJ]
Bob Ross (1a8d0d) — 6/1/2010 @ 8:27 amI’m sorry DRJ I thought Patterico was responsible for the content on his blog. Anyway why are you spending so much time on a non-scandal?
[Comment released from filter. Bob: Apparently you’re in moderation because of something that happened in the past. As for this post, I guess I’m talking about this for the same reason you are. It’s interesting. — DRJ]
Bob Ross (0b7b4e) — 6/1/2010 @ 7:24 pm