Has a bombshell just been dropped in the November elections? If a story that broke on Thursday gets enough ink, the answer may be yes.

It’s being reported that the White House has sought to entice Senate primary challengers into dropping their campaigns against incumbent Democrats with the offer of plum government appointments — a jailable offense.

Jeffrey Lord of The American Spectator reports on the story, writing:

For the second time in five months, the Obama White House is being accused — by Democrats — of offering high ranking government jobs in return for political favors. What no one is reporting is that this is a violation of federal law that can lead to prison time, a fine or both, according to Title 18, Chapter 11, Section 211 of the United States Code.

The jobs in question? Secretary of the Navy and a position within the U.S. Agency for International Development [USAID].  

The newest allegation has been made by Congressman Joe Sestak (D-Pa.), who has launched a promising primary challenge against the Pennsylvania party-switcher, Arlen Specter. While being interviewed by talk-show host Larry Kane, Sestak was asked about whether he had been offered a job to exit the race and, appearing “a little surprised,” answered “yes.” Writes Kane, “I asked him if the job was Navy Secretary [Sestak is a former Navy admiral]. He said, ‘I can’t comment on that.’ In the next few seconds, he admitted that it was a ‘high up’ job, that it came from the White House, and that he didn’t accept the offering.”

Kane says that he later inquired about the matter with the White House press office but never heard back from its staff. This may indicate that the allegation is true. After all, if the Obama administration is guilty, it has a vested interested in not fielding questions about the matter. Otherwise, it places itself in the unenviable position of having to either confess malfeasance or put another lie on the record. 

As for the first case of this kind, alluded to by Lord, it dates back to August 2009 and involves Democrat Colorado Senator Michael Bennett and primary challenger Andrew Romanoff. Michael Riley at DenverPost.com reported on the story in September, writing:

Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff and a storied fixer in the White House political shop, suggested a place for Romanoff might be found in the administration and offered specific suggestions, according to several sources who described the communication to The Denver Post.

Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency, sources said.

Some have pointed out that, given the strong Chicago element within the White House, stories of corruption aren’t surprising. After all, as a recent study by the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Better Government Association has shown, Cook County, Illinois, is Bribery and Graft Central. (Although, commissioning such a study is much like launching one to discover if Wisconsin has cheese.)

Yet, even if a bit of the Chicago machine has been moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it’s possible that the jobs-for-favors bombshell will be a dud. The mainstream media will not pick up this story, and there just isn’t enough ink outside the old media to paint a picture large enough for the whole nation to see. Regardless, though, these latest revelations will not help a party whose prospects are declining as fast as its handiwork, our budget deficit, is increasing. 

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GS said:

... "even if a bit of the Chicago machine has been moved to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it’s possible that the jobs-for-favors bombshell will be a dud. The mainstream media will not pick up this story, and there just isn’t enough ink outside the old media to paint a picture large enough for the whole nation to see." Think about the implication of that statement. There's total lawlessness in the upper reaches of our government and absolutely no cops, anywhere. Things like this should be investigated and prosecuted, not because they get a certain amount of "ink", but because they're criminal and nobody is supposed to be above the law.

February 23, 2010

Sean said:

No! I will not let this one go! Enough. This abuse will not fade into obscurity. An independent investigator should be appointed and the matter should be prosecuted. I am contacting those I feel will pass this information on now and I am also contacting my representatives. We can not allow the rule of law and decency to be butchered one moment longer. A line must be drawn and this is mine. I urge all of you who wish to rescue the gifts of this country's virtue to draw this same line and say, "You will not cross!"

February 23, 2010

Bonnie said:

"You will not cross!" Pelosi, Soetoro, Reid & Associates have not only crossed the line, but the line is so far behind them it is no longer visible in the rear view mirror!

February 23, 2010

gary.roxene said:

When its all good i.e. politically correct, accountability is nowhere to be found. The sad part about this is that the courage to hold our leaders accountable is gone because of the party polarization which is the end product of political correctness, its goal. This is exactly why the lamestream media has more clout than our courts. We are locked in a hopeless battle of left and right when the actual battle should be right against wrong - something that no longer exists when truth is now simply dialectic due to PC. It is impossible to make any (esp. constitutional) law hold up when accounting ITSELF has evaporated. When was the last time anyone was held accountable for breaking constitutional law? And why is that you ask? Accounting itself ceases to exist when truth's ownership becomes the individual - because if - as PC mandates - anyone's truth is as good as anyone else's // then truth (and accounting to it) evaporates. So. We talk tough but it appears that it will take much more than words to enforce the constitution in a time where comfort has more weight than truth. Is this not the core reason that ammo manufacturing cannot keep up with demand. It can't -- why? According to PC - the new state religion - its all good - Thats Why. And those that have lived long enough know better.

February 23, 2010 | url

Rico said:

What about Fox? "it’s possible that the jobs-for-favors bombshell will be a dud. The mainstream media will not pick up this story, and there just isn’t enough ink outside the old media to paint a picture large enough for the whole nation to see." Are you saying Fox News is part of a cover up? They have the power to make any story big, assuming it all checks out.

February 23, 2010 | url

Rico said:

What about Fox? Are you saying Fox News is covering this up? They have enough power to make any story big.

February 23, 2010 | url

Pathenry said:

VOTE THEM ALL OUT The good news is, these folks are running so scared that they will resort to any tactics to bully their policies through - which means more and more Americans are waking up - which means an ever greater likelihood that we can elect NEW candidates this fall. And while remembering the vote for candidates who are NOT Republicrats and Demicans, do not forget that our best line of defense against these federal encroachments is to elect law-abiding Constituttionlists and economic Libertarians to our STATE-LEVEL Houses, Senates and Governorships this fall and following. GO, GO!

February 24, 2010

Jofas said:

RE: Did you all hear Obama appointed the Guam Attorney General as the US Attorney General over here? That lady failed to enact any justice on Guam and hold people accountable. By getting her into the US Attorney seat Obama is doing a favor for the Defense Contractors/Republicans set to make a fortune with the Military Build Up on Guam...by ensuring Federal Law never gets upheld against what is about to happen. The 33,000 H-2 Fillipino's that are being brought in...it was the Government of Guam that requested they be exempt from Federal H-2 laws. And this lady will be the US Attorney?? Working against the Americans on Guam? We've all got our camcorders ready and will be recording the carnage so America can see what is happening to us. Thanks Obama.

February 28, 2010

Rick said:

Never Rise to Impeachment Obama could be videotaped killing someone and this Congress would never entertain impeachment. They would call it a mercy killing. These political bribes have been occurring in both parties for centuries. If the above are true then someone should be going to jail for allowing their political hacks to loot Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with their extravagant bonuses. Henry Paulson should be sitting in jail now awaiting trial for colluding with his Goldman Sachs brothers for taking part in the largest theft in history. Along with Geithner, Summers and a few more Goldman Sachs alumni from the Bush administration. It's how they secure their political future. Like the new Dept. of Tourism that will be used to provide lucrative political appointments at our expense ($200 million per year) for eternity to promote U.S. tourism from abroad. More crapitalism, aka fascism, on the backs of hard working Americans with nothing to show for it but high priced junkets, conventions and bribes.

March 03, 2010