White House won't answer questions about Sestak payoff

Allysia Finley has this up at the WSJ's Political Diary.

Republican California Rep. Darrell Issa is demanding answers from the White House about a possible quid pro quo between the Obama administration and Democratic Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak. Mr. Sestak alleged last month in an interview with TV anchor Larry Kane that the president offered him a "high-ranking" position in his administration last July in order to get him to drop out of the Democratic primary against five-term Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter, who faces a difficult re-election bid in the fall against Republican former Rep. Pat Toomey. . . .

Last month, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dodged repeated questions about the purported job offer, telling reporters: "I have not made any progress on that. . . . I was remiss on this and I apologize. . . . Let me check into that." In a letter to the White House counsel, Mr. Issa also requested a more detailed explanation, to which Mr. Gibbs responded pithily: "I don't have anything additional on that."

Last week, Mr. Gibbs finally offered further elaboration, telling the White House press that he had "talked to people who have talked to others in the White House" and had been assured that "whatever conversations have been had are not problematic." He added: "Whatever happened is in the past." . . .

Senator Specter himself chimed in on a Philadelphia radio show to say that Mr. Sestak himself may be guilty of a felony if he failed to report a felony. . . .

this kind of sausage-making is rife in politics as evidenced by this weekend's health-care buy offs of California Rep. Jim Costa with more water for his Central Valley district and Tennessee Rep. Bart Gordon with $100 million of additional Medicaid funds for Tennessee -- not to mention the Senate's Cornhusker Kickback and Louisiana Purchase. But selling federal appointments is considered another matter. . . .