Since the pundits don't want this story to go away and they are looking for Obama's first scandal at every corner, we are starting to get some clues about the Sestak non-scandal scandal.
Yesterday, at his press conference, President, responding to Fox News's Major Garrett, assured that the WH will issue an official statement on this story soon.
According to the New York Times, Rahm Emanuel used former President Bill Clinton as an intermediary to see if Representative Joe Sestak would drop out of a Senate primary if given a prominent, but unpaid, advisory position.
Some sources tell the NY Times that President Obama's Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel, asked Bill Clinton and his longtime adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to talk to Sestak about the race.
But, the White House did not offer Joe Sestak a full-time paid position because Rahm wanted him to stay in the House rather than risk losing his seat(I believe Sestak's district is a pretty purple one). Among the positions explored by the White House was an appointment to the President’s Intelligence Advisory Board, which provides independent oversight and advice the president. But White House officials discovered it would not work because Mr. Sestak could not serve on the board while still serving in Congress.
According to Greg Sargent, the White House maintains that Clinton's overtures to Sestak merely constituted an effort to gauge his seriousness about the race, the sources say, adding that Clinton was informally discussing the range of options open to Sestak as part of a larger conversation meant to ascertain Sestak's thinking.
As the NY Times pointed it out, the office of Robert F. Bauer, the White House counsel, has concluded that Rahm Emanuel’s proposal did not violate laws prohibiting government employees from promising employment as a reward for political activity because the position being offered was unpaid. The office also found other examples of presidents offering positions to political allies to achieve political aims.
Seems to me that Joe Sestak blew this story out of proportions for his own reasons ?
UPDATE
Here the Official Statement from the White House
UPDATE
Congressman Darrell Issa doesn't seem to give it up
ViaCBS's Mark Knoller
# Issa, ranking GOP on House Oversight Cmte, says Pres. Clinton and Congressman Sestak "now need to answer questions about" the matter. 5 minutes ago via web
#
Cong. Darrell Issa, R-Ca., doesn't buy WH statement on Sestak: it still represents "an illegal quid-pro-quo as federal law prohibits..."
Issa's statement
After more than ten weeks of outstanding questions, the White House has offered a version of events that has important differences from what Congressman Sestak has been saying for months – that he was offered a ‘job’ by ‘someone in the White House’ in exchange for leaving the Pennsylvania Senate race.
I’m very concerned that in the rush to put together this report, the White House has done everything but explain its own actions and has instead worked to craft a story behind closed doors and coordinate with those involved. The White House has admitted today to coordinating an arrangement that would represent an illegal quid-pro-quo as federal law prohibits directly or indirectly offering any position or appointment, paid or unpaid, in exchange for favors connected with an election.
President Clinton and Congressman Sestak now need to answer questions about what the White House has released today – that at the behest of the White House Chief of staff, they dispatched a former President to get Joe Sestak out of the Pennsylvania Senate Primary.
Sestak's statement:
"Last summer, I received a phone call from President Clinton. During the course of the conversation, he expressed concern over my prospects if I were to enter the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate and the value of having me stay in the House of Representatives because of my military background. He said that White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel had spoken with him about my being on a Presidential Board while remaining in the House of Representatives. I said no. I told President Clinton that my only consideration in getting into the Senate race or not was whether it was the right thing to do for Pennsylvania working families and not any offer. The former President said he knew I'd say that, and the conversation moved on to other subjects.
"There are many important challenges facing Pennsylvania and the rest of the country. I intend to remain focused on those issues and continue my fight on behalf of working families."