Even CREW Says Sestak's Claim Of Job Offer Is No Scandal
Zachary Roth | May 25, 2010, 3:28PM
Republicans have been launching a full-court press to trumpet the claim by Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) that the White House offered him a job in exchange for dropping out of the Democratic primary race for the U.S. Senate, in an effort to clear the filed for its favored candidate, Sen. Arlen Specter, (D-PA). One GOP lawmaker has called for a criminal probe, alleging possible illegal conduct. But several experts tell TPMmuckraker this is much ado about nothing.
Last month, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) urged the Justice Department to appoint a special counsel to look into Sestak's claim, which Issa says amounts to an accusation of a bribe. The White House has said that nothing inappropriate happened. And on Friday, reports Politico, DOJ responded by denying the request.
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"People horse trade politically all the time," Stan Brand, a prominent Washington criminal defense lawyer told TPMmuckraker. "So I don't put much stock in this, and I don't think its gonna go anywhere."
Even those who used to prosecute public corruption cases agree. "Talk about criminalizing the political process!" said Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor with the Justice Department's Public Integrity unit. "It would be horrible precedent if what really truly is political horsetrading were viewed in the criminal context of: is this a corrupt bribe?"
And Melanie Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who as the head of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington isn't known for going on easy public corruption, concurred. "There is no bribery case here," she said. "No statute has ever been used to prosecute anybody for bribery in circumstances like this."
Sloan added that Issa's move was more about politics. "It's not at all about whether there was actual criminal wrongdoing," she said. "It's about how to go after Sestak."
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