Joe Sestak isn’t fooling anyone with his half answer about being offered a job to drop out of his race against Specter. All seven Republicans on the Senate Judicial Committee are asking Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint an independent prosecutor to look into the matter.
We all know that seven Republicans asking anything of this partisan administration won’t amount to a hill of bean. However, liberal voices are starting to questions the White House/ Sestak offer. Enter Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell, who by no stretch of the imagination could be considered anti-Obama, is asking for details into the job offer.
The White House and Joe Sestak should explain what happened with the alleged job offer, Gov. Ed Rendell said Wednesday before a press conference on Capitol Hill.
"I actually think the White House and Joe Sestak should be a little more detailed and put this behind them," Rendell said.
He said the issue of whether Sestak was offered a job in the Obama administration to get out of the primary race against Specter isn't on the forefront of voters' minds. But, he acknowledged that it is a distraction that will only linger if not addressed.
Rendell said he is sure nothing illegal went on, noting that such conversations have been "going on for decades."
He predicted that someone at the White House probably told Sestak that if he wanted to do something with his "terrific background in the military" there would likely be a job for him with the administration. But Rendell said he does not believe it was any kind of a bribe to get Sestak out of Specter's way.
Rendell is the latest among a growing list of people that include Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin and Republican candidate for Senate, Pat Toomey, who are pressuring Sestak to come out and say who offered the job and what it was.
Lefty blogger Greg Sargent from the Plum Line also would like clarification, albeit from the Sestak side of the equation:
Senate Republicans are now calling for a special prosecutor to look intoJoe Sestak's claim that the White House offered him a job in order to drop his primary challenge to Arlen Specter. On the merits, this seems silly: Good government experts say that what Sestak claims took place doesn't seem like a big deal.
But that doesn't change the fact that Sestak has played this too cute by half, and he needs to clean up this mess. He needs to clarify what exactly happened -- even if it's thoroughly uncontroversial. For his own good and for the sake of the Democratic Party.
Sestak let the cat’s head out of the bag. Robert Gibbs confirmed that the cat was peeking out. At this point both sides need to come clean and just say what is what and let the chips fall as the may. The current situation where Sestak says he got a job offer and the administration says yeah but it was legal leaves out way too much detail to end the speculation. Both parties have to come clean or Sestak could go down and Republicans will have something to look into when they get control.
Already Rep. Darryl Issa has raised The Impeachment issue. I would caution Issa on that route. Have you seen the order of succession?
Via: Memeorandum
Via: ABC News
Via: Pennsylvania Ave
Via: Plum Line
Via: Fox News