WALPIN-GATE IS STILL CHUGGING ALONG

As if we need another scandal. Yet, the one involving former NBA star / Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, AmeriCorps (Obama's pet project), and a cast of shady characters continues to develop new plot lines. Turns out accusations that Corporation for National Community Service (CNCS) head, Alan Solomont had conversations with First Lady Michelle Obama's office are true despite his claims to the contrary. CNCS is the parental entity over AmeriCorps.

When Investigator General Gerald Walpin insisted on pressing an issue involving Johnson's misuse of taxpayer dollars, he was abruptly fired by the White House, even though the law states he must be given 30 day notice and congress must be involved. Johnson is a buddy of Barack Obama.

This scandal has many layers but the purpose of this post is to reveal a new one. Specifically, regarding Alan Solomont, Byron York has REPORTED:

Congressional investigators looking into the abrupt firing of AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin have discovered that the head of AmeriCorps met with a top aide to First Lady Michelle Obama the day before Walpin was removed.

According to Republican investigators, Alan Solomont, then the chairman of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which oversees AmeriCorps, had denied meeting with Jackie Norris, at the time the First Lady's chief of staff. But recently-released White House visitor logs show that Solomont met with Norris on June 9 of this year (as well as on two earlier occasions). President Obama fired Walpin on June 10 after an intense dispute over Walpin's aggressive investigation of misuse of AmeriCorps money by Obama political ally Kevin Johnson, the mayor of Sacramento, California.

What? Another Lie? Say it ain't so.

Don't you just love this explanation?

After being presented with the visitor logs, investigators say, Solomont explained that he met with Norris to discuss Corporation business but did not discuss the Walpin matter. When pressed, Solomont said he might have made an offhand comment, or a mention in passing, about the Walpin affair, but that he and Norris did not have a discussion about it.

Meeting with Jackie Norris would have been equivalent to meeting with Michelle Obama, which is why Solomont might not want to list his meetings, of which there three that have been confirmed. These meetings would indicate that the First Lady's interest in AmeriCorps may have been strong enough to reasonably question her level of involvement in the Walipn firing.

Here comes the most unbelievable story.

...Solomont denied talking to Norris. Then, in November, White House visitor logs showed that Solomont had been to the White House 17 times between President Obama's inauguration and the July 15 interview, and had met with Norris on three of those occasions, including June 9. In a follow-up interview conducted December 8, Republican investigators asked Solomont why he had not previously disclosed his meetings with Norris.

So the head of CNCS and by extension, AmeriCorps. met with Michelle Obama's Chief of Staff one day before Walpin was fired and we're to believe the subject never came up?!

Boy, that Joe Wilson character is aging like a fine wine.



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