FBI e-mail investigation fingers White House?

Fired inspector says Obama's explanation of dismissal a 'total lie' Posted: June 17, 2009 10:08 pm Eastern © 2009 WorldNetDaily The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into a dispute that is linked to an AmeriCorps money scandal that has fingers pointing all the way up to the White House because of President Obama's dismissal of an inspector general who was on the case. According to a report in the Sacramento Bee, acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown has confirmed the agency is looking into the "circumstances" regarding the alleged destruction of e-mails regarding a dispute over the handling of money at Mayor Kevin Johnson's "brainchild" St. HOPE Academy, which had been investigated after allegations that public funds were misused. As WND reported earlier, U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley is asking for an investigation into Obama's firing of the independent inspector general, Gerald Walpin, who had been charged with rooting out corruption in the AmeriCorps program – and had sought action against Obama's friend, Johnson. Walpin told WND in an interview he didn't think the timing of his firing was a coincidence, and indeed, he said, "I was fired for doing my job." Radio host Rush Limbaugh accused the administration of breaking the law by firing Walpin, attributing it to "political cronyism" and declaring, "Alberto Gonzales as attorney general fired a couple of U.S. attorneys. He took hell for it. This is bigger. Inspectors general are supposed to be completely above politics." One of the participants in the Bee forum page said, "This story will be bigger than Watergate IF the facts are allowed the light of day." A settlement had been reached in the St. HOPE case that required the return of $400,000 of "misused grants for AmeriCorps volunteers." While Walpin's investigation suggested no more federal money be distributed through those specific channels, Rick Maya, who left his job as executive director with St. HOPE recently, claimed in his resignation letter a member of the charter school's board had deleted e-mails by Johnson during the federal investigation, according to the newspaper. That allegation caught the interest of Brown, who confirmed to the newspaper the FBI investigation was open, although he was "not at liberty to discuss the details." The newspaper said while the academy was under subpoena, Maya notified the board that board member Sam Oki allegedly had accessed – and deleted – some of the e-mail in the academy system. "We had to pay thousands of dollars to recover the information deleted from our e-mail system as a result of this highly inappropriate and potentially unlawful incursion into our e-mail system," Maya's letter said, according to the newspaper. "We are still unsure whether all of the deleted information has been recovered." To the newspaper, Oki denied the allegation but declined to comment further. But to Fox news, and other media organizations willing to interview him since his abrupt dismissal, Walpin said Obama's explanation that Walpin was "confused" and "disoriented" and that was why he was dismissed was "absolutely wild." He also appeared on the Glenn Beck show on Fox today, responding quickly, accurately and coherently to a long list of instructions and questions, apparently to test his "confusion." [CONTINUE READING]