White House Admits To Bribing Another Candidate

Jillian Bandes | June 03, 2010 8:17 AM

A statement was released at 6:25am this morning detailing the bribe offered by Jim Messina, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff, to a Democratic Senate primary contender from Colorado,

Andrew Romanoff. Romanoff is holding a steady lead against incumbent Democratic Sen. Michael Bennett, who was appointed to his seat by Governor Bill Ritter after former Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar was appointed by Obama to Secretary of the Interior. Messina was offered a high-up position at USAID if he would leave the field clear for Bennet.

First of all, Bennet is looking pretty lame right about now. He gets his Senate seat handed to him by the Governor only after Obama cleared it out, then the White House steps in and tries to help him hold on to his seat because at this point it doesn't look like he can do it himself. Someone needs to tell this guy to go into another profession. And someone needs to tell Obama to let Coloradans choose their own Senator without it being chosen for them by higher-ups!

Second of all, this is another perfectly-crafted excuse that exculpates Bennett, Obama, and Ritter, and like the Sestak bribe, deserves a full investigation.

Here's the full statement from WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs:

Andrew Romanoff applied for a position at USAID during the Presidential transition. He filed this application through the Transition on-line process. After the new administration took office, he followed up by phone with White House personnel. Jim Messina called and emailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID, or if, as had been reported, he was running for the US Senate. Months earlier, the President had endorsed Senator Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.

Romanoff said that he was committed to the Senate race and no longer interested in working for the Administration, and that ended the discussion. As Mr. Romanoff has stated, there was no offer of a job.