The short Bio. on Norman Eisen shows that he worked for the prestigious law firm of Zuckerman Spaeder. He was a classmate of the sitting president. Just one more of the Harvard boys running the day to day operations of the Obama administration.
His professional history reveals that he spent much of his time defending people who were accused of ethical crimes and misdemeanors.
Therefore, it is understandable that Obama picked him for his "ethics" transitional team and now he heads the ethics "department" of the Obama White House.
The only problem with this picture is that apparently he did not do a very good job of vetting some of the choices Obama made for his Cabinet positions, and now it would appear that he has taken over the job of covering up dirty tricks perpetrated by "friends of Obama"!
At the end of only his second full week in office, President Barack Obama's administration slammed into Washington's unwritten law( pay your taxes) as two key government nominees withdrew under a cloud of tax problems.
Former Sen. Tom Daschle pulled out Tuesday as Obama's pick as Health and Human Services secretary, citing a growing chorus of criticism over his failure to fully pay taxes from 2005 through 2007He has since paid more than $140,000 including interest, then there was News of Nancy Killefer pulling her candidacy to be the first chief performance officer for the federal government, saying she didn't want her failure to submit payroll taxes for household help to be a distraction for the president. She had faced but subsequently settled a Washington city government tax lien of $946.69 on her home.
The one that slipped by, because he was described as being to valuable to turn down is Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. He had failed to pay taxes on a portion of his income when he worked for the International Monetary Fund. Geithner's tax history was the first to raise red flags in the Senate, but the Ethics man did not raise an objection so we have a tax "cheat" running the IRS!
The Obama administration pledged to focus on ethics and government openness and transparency.Apparently this has become a forgotten promise, as the firing of Inspector General Gerald Walpin shows.
"The White House's decision to fire AmeriCorps inspector general Gerald Walpin came amid politically-charged tensions inside the Corporation for National and Community Service, the organization that runs AmeriCorps. Top executives at the Corporation, Walpin explained in an hour-long interview Saturday, were unhappy with his investigation into the misuse of AmeriCorps funds by Kevin Johnson, the former NBA star who is now mayor of Sacramento, California and a prominent supporter of President Obama. Walpin's investigation also sparked conflict with the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento amid fears that the probe -- which could have resulted in Johnson being barred from ever winning another federal grant -- might stand in the way of the city receiving its part of billions of dollars in federal stimulus money. After weeks of standoff, Walpin, whose position as inspector general is supposed to be protected from influence by political appointees and the White House, was fired.
Walpin learned his fate Wednesday night. He was driving to an event in upstate New York when he received a call from Norman Eisen, the Special Counsel to the President for Ethics and Government Reform. "He said, 'Mr. Walpin, the president wants me to tell you that he really appreciates your service, but it's time to move on,'" Walpin recalls. "Eisen said, 'You can either resign, or I'll tell you that we'll have to terminate you." Source: Amereican Thinker
Mr. Walpin, a 78 year old attorney known for his honesty and decisions that have never been influenced by politics over his more than 50 years in the law, had also just sent a report to the White House that he just finished. A report on the misuse of "stim" funds by the City University of New York. The two reports taken together would have placed Obama cronies in the sights of a criminal investigation. Hence, we have to be a least a little suspicion that the timing of his firing was "very interesting" as Walpin put it.
In case anyone thought this was still America, have a look at the official White House blog of Norm Eisen, special counsel to the president for ethics and government reform, who addresses the problem of people exercising their First Amendment rights and speaking up against the way the government has been wasting our money under the guise of "stimulus":
"First, we will expand the restriction on oral communications to cover all persons, not just federally registered lobbyists. For the first time, we will reach contacts not only by registered lobbyists but also by unregistered ones, as well as anyone else exerting influence on the process. We concluded this was necessary under the unique circumstances of the stimulus program." Source: Washington Examiner
A White House spokesman says the administration would not immediately offer any more details of Eisen's role in the White House Counsel's office. Now we know he is one of BHO's "hatchet" men!
Eisen, was co-founder of the good government group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW),and has previously represented federal officials and agencies on ethics issues.
According to his bio on Zuckerman Spaeder's Web site, Eisen was co-chairman of the firm's public client practice. He has assisted public officials investigating the subprime lending crisis; examining student loan marketing activities; and managing complex securities litigation.
Eisen also has represented government clients to "conduct internal investigations of their offices, represented them in disputes with the federal government and translated their policy ideas into statutes, regulations, executive orders, and programs."
Additionally, he has defended cases involving violations of government ethics rules and related misconduct, and now he is a point man for cover ups for Friends of Obama and their crimes!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment