REMEMBER WALPIN-GATE? IT'S BAAAAACK

Believe it or not, there was a time in this country when a story like this would be earth-shattering. Unfortunately, it's been languishing in relative obscurity since it broke last summer. That said, Byron York at the Washington Examiner is doing an excellent job of peeling the onion, one layer at a time.

This story does have many layers that I won't get into but if you'd like to read up, feel free to go here, here, and here.

The latest development involves Walpin, the mayor of Sacramento Kevin Johnson, Johnson's attorney, and Lawrence Brown who, at the time was the U.S. Attorney in Sacramento. In short, Walpin exposed Johnson as mis-using taxpayer dollars and wasn't backing down.

Johnson's attorney, Matthew Jacobs appears to have had some correspondence with Brown who confronted Walpin and helped the White House justify its decision to fire Inspector General Walpin, who discovered that former NBA star Kevin Johnson - a friend of Barack Obama - was mis-using government funds for his personal benefit.

New revelations, thanks to York, show that Brown very likely could have had a motive when it came to opposing Walpin. The former apparently had his eye on a job requiring a presidential appointment:

Republican investigators for the Senate Finance Committee and the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform have released a supplement to the 62-page report on the Walpin case they filed last November, and it shows that, at the same time he was blocking Walpin, Brown was seeking an appointment from the Obama White House as the permanent U.S. Attorney. In other words, when Brown let Obama ally Kevin Johnson off the hook, he was hoping to get a job from the Obama White House.

York's piece goes on to quote Brown's letter specifically but the deeper story at this point, appears to be the Obama administration's willingness or unwillingness to reward Brown for doing its bidding with respect to protecting Obama's friend, Kevin Johnson.

In matters like this, one seeks poetic incarnations of justice wherever they can be found. It would seem that even if this case dies here - not likely, considering how long it's been percolating - Walpin may just be able to take some solace in the fact that he made enough of a stink that Brown didn't get that position he so coveted.

Walpin was later cleared of all the charges against him. In the end, Brown did not get the U.S. Attorney job. He is now a judge on the Sacramento Superior Court.

If this story is as it appears, how comfortable should we feel knowing that someone like Brown is now a judge?

Be sure to Read it All