GERALD WALPIN’S WEB SITE…SEE NOTE
I confess with great pride that Gerald Walpin is my friend, but beyond friendship this presents a “gotcha” moment and opportunity to challenge the thuggish behavior of the administration. Please circulate and help in whatever way you can. ….rsk
http://sites.google.com/site/iggeraldwalpin/
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On January 6, 2007, following nomination by the President and confirmation by the Senate, I assumed my position as Inspector General of the Corporation for National and Community Service (“Corporationâ€). I was fortunate to inherit a career non-partisan, able and experienced staff of mostly investigators and auditors, whose sole motivation was to root out fraud, waste and abuse in the spending of close to one billion dollars of taxpayers’ money. My staff was very successful in its work, resulting in both criminal and civil prosecutions and recovery of millions of dollars from wrongdoers. I considered it my responsibility to support my staff whenever, after review of their findings, they discovered wrongdoing without regard to the politics or position of the wrongdoer. Yet, on June 10, 2009, with no prior notice or opportunity to be heard, I was fired by a White House staff person purporting to act on behalf of the President, after I was given one hour to resign or be fired. Why? The obvious reason is that I supported my staff’s well-documented findings of wrongdoing in two separate matters. I need only discuss here my staff’s investigation of the mis-use of an $850,000 grant to St. HOPE Academy in Sacramento, California, of which one Kevin Johnson was the Chief Executive Officer and the prime wrongdoer. Evidence developed by my staff established that Johnson had used those funds and the AmeriCorps members (essentially volunteers) for personal purposes, such as chauffeuring him, washing his car, and political campaigning, instead of for the purposes of the grant, which were primarily mentoring underserved students. After Johnson was elected and assumed his position as Mayor of Sacramento, media and political pressure was applied to end my staff’s investigation of, and actions against, Johnson, a self-asserted friend and supporter of the new President. The result: over my and my staff’s objection, the Corporation and the Acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento settled the case, without any judgment or penalty against Johnson. Indeed, the settlement rescinded the suspension of Johnson’s ability to receive further Federal funds in the future – a suspension ordered by the Corporation’s Hearing Office based on the facts establishing Johnson’s wrongdoing. The firing of me, without notice, ignored and violated a statute enacted in 2008 – cosponsored by then Senator Obama – to ensure the independence of Inspectors General, which prohibited removal or transfer of an Inspector General unless at least 30 days advance notice with reasons was provided to both Houses of Congress. More facts are detailed in the documents that follow. I commenced a lawsuit to be reinstated. You may ask why am I, one individual citizen, engaging in this battle with a Goliath Government. The answer is simple. It is not that I “needed†the job as Inspector General; indeed, I had left a 41-year successful legal practice because the White House had asked me to provide this service to the Country. In response, I decided that it furnished me an opportunity to give back a little to this Country that had given me so much. I recognized that, if I merely rolled over and accepted my removal because I had done my job as it was supposed to be done, it would be a message to all other Inspectors General that they had to be careful not to proceed against wrongdoers who had friends in high places or were politically connected. I could not in good conscience do so. I knew, when I rejected the demand that I quietly resign and quietly fade away, that the battle that I had begun would not be easy on me. The public false smearing of me, that I assumed would occur, has occurred. And the financial and time burden that comes with this lawsuit is heavy, particularly for me with a loving family of a wife of 52 years, three children and six grandchildren. But I have been steeled in continuing to fight this battle by hundreds on hundreds of people – many of whom I have never met – who have communicated their support by writing me and by sending contributions to help finance the lawsuit. In this regard, I would be thankful to any reader who wishes to contribute (or contribute again). A Trust Fund has been established for this purpose, of which two highly respected attorneys, Thomas J. Kavaler, a partner in Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP, and William F. Kuntz II, a partner in Baker & Hostetler LLP, have volunteered their service as Trustees. Checks can be sent to the Walpin Legal Defense Trust, 875 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10075. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments, I would welcome them at geraldwalpinig@gmail.com. Following are some documents and, where useful, further recitation of relevant facts, for your information, if you are interested. (As further events occur, they will be added.)  While you can google Gerald Walpin to see a large number of articles, you will find at the end of this site links that will give you a reasonable sample of media coverage. A.  The Complaint Against Me By The Acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento One primary “reason†belatedly provided by the White House for my removal (only after various members of Congress had pointed out the absence of any reason) was a complaint against me by the Acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento, whom I had criticized for settling the case against Johnson as he had done. Although using that complaint as a “reason,†the White House never did any investigation of the factual basis for the complaint, never talked with me, and never talked to members of my staff who were personally involved in the investigation and thus had personal knowledge of the falsity of the complaint. Most important, the White House did not await determination of the complaint by the Integrity Committee, the body assigned by Congress with the responsibility to hear and determine complaints against an Inspector General. On October 19, 2009, the Integrity Committee, after careful review of all facts, rendered its decision finding no merit to the complaint: B.  The Smear On Me That I Was “Disoriented, Confused And Unable To Answer Questions†The other primary “reason†that the White House belatedly offered for my firing was that I had acted “disoriented, confused and unable to answer questions.†Anyone who has listened to me, freely answering questions during various television and radio appearances, knows that this smear is untrue (you can google me to hear for yourself). Almost immediately after that smear was made public, six prominent New York attorneys circulated the following letter among fellow prominent members of that Bar, fixed a 24-hour limit to obtain signers, and quickly obtained almost 150 signers, in order to communicate their rejection of any validity to that smear. Lawyers’ Letter of Support for Gerald Walpin C.   My Complaint Which Commenced The Law Suit For Reinstatement On July 20, 2009, my complaint was filed, in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, by my distinguished attorneys, Joe D. Whitley and Sanford M. Saunders, Jr., of the law firm Greenberg Traurig, who have agreed to provide a substantial discount from their normal fees. The Amended Complaint, filed one week later and containing only minor changes, is as follows: D.  Government’s Motion To Dismiss On October 26, 2009, the Government, instead of answering the Amended Complaint, filed a motion to dismiss my case. Following are the Government’s submission, our opposing submission, and the Government’s reply submission: The Government’s Motion to Dismiss The Government’s Reply Submission E.   Our Motion For Summary Judgment Ordering My Reinstatement On December 16, 2009, we filed a motion for Summary Judgment, ordering my reinstatement as Inspector General: F.   Government’s Motion To Stay Our Summary Judgment Motion Instead of answering our motion for summary judgment, the Government, on December 23, 2009, filed a motion to stay consideration of our summary judgment motion. Following is the Government’s motion and our opposition submission: Our Opposition to the Motion to Stay G.  Joint Staff Report from U.S. Congress On November 20, 2009, a 61-page report, entitled “The Firing of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service†was issued as a Joint Staff Report, 111th Congress, under the names of Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Sen. Charles E. Grassley, and House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Rep. Darrell Issa:
Examples of Media Reports: Washington Examiner, June 14, 2009 Washington Times, June 15, 2009 Wall Street Journal, June 17, 2009 Washington Times, June 17, 2009 Fox News (TV Appearance), June 18, 2009 Fox News (Second TV Appearance), June 18, 2009 Washington Times, June 22, 2009 Progressive Review Online Report Washington Times, July 16, 2009 Washington Times, October 8, 2009 |
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