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Grassley: 'Evidence points' to political motive in AmeriCorps firing
By: Byron York
Chief Political Correspondent
11/20/09 2:17 PM EST
Sen. Charles Grassley, ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, has released a statement on the new report published by his staff and that of Rep. Darrell Issa, ranking GOP member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. "The allegations uncovered by the inspector general [Gerald Walpin] were very serious," Grassley says, "and they deserve to be fully investigated, not swept under the rug." Grassley continued:
It seems a lot of people might have been interested in protecting the AmeriCorps program and the Mayor of Sacramento from an IG who was discovering some unpleasant facts. I'm not sure whether the IG was fired for political reasons. The evidence points in that direction, but since the White House is asserting privilege over its decision-making process, we can't be sure. The report details everything we were able to learn, so people can judge for themselves.
Grassley is still trying to get the Corporation for National and Community Service, the agency that oversees AmeriCorps, to release documents concerning communications with the White House over the Walpin firing. To date, the White House has not given any indication that it is willing to give up those documents.
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