Should top-ranking government jobs be bought, sold or traded? Should they be offered as inducements to get candidates into or out of particular political races important to a president? Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., the ranking minority member of the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, says no. So does federal law. After a month of the White House refusing to give its side of the story about an alleged dirty deal for a high-ranking post, Issa is threatening to call for a special prosecutor to investigate.

On Feb. 18, Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., revealed that somebody in the White House offered him such a post if he would in return drop his Democratic primary challenge to Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Given several chances to recant his story, Sestak has instead repeatedly confirmed it. He has declined, however, to specify who made the offer and which job it was. Specter spoke out on the Sestak affair two weeks ago, suggesting that Sestak name names, or else pipe down. “I’m telling you it is a federal crime punishable by jail,” Specter said, “and anybody who wants to say that ought to back it up.”