...FROM "DAY ONE"

INFORMATIONAL
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BREAKING NEWS: White House Asked Bill Clinton to Talk to Sestak About Possible Job
Fox News is reporting that the White House will shortly issue a report on the Sestak Job Offer. Sources say the report will say that former President Bill Clinton was asked by White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel to talk to Sestak about what might be able to convince him to get out of the Pennsylvania Senate race. . . Developing

UPDATE 5: Here is the PDF of the official White House Response on the Sestak Job Offer.

UPDATE 4: Ed Morrissey at Hot Air is covering this, and he suspects the White House is going to come up with an “uncompensated” advisory job that will pass the smell test as being significant enough to tempt Sestak out of the Senate race:

Hot Air: What kind of unpaid position would be attractive enough to get Sestak out of the Senate primary? That’s a darned good question, and I’ll bet the Obama White House is scrambling to make up find an answer. If Sestak challenges this spin, though, I’d be very surprised. I think he’s looking for an exit from this scandal at least as hard as Obama and his staff. . . .

UPDATE 3: Greg Sargent at the Washington Post has more detail on the “advisory” position supposedly offered to Sestak:


Washington Post: According to a source familiar with the situation, the White House asked Clinton and his adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to suggest to Sestak an unpaid position on the President’s Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board. . . .

This is similar to what The New York Times’ Peter Baker was told by sources, and Baker adds that the White House counsel looked at the the offer and concluded it wasn’t illegal:

The office of Robert F. Bauer, the White House counsel, has concluded that Mr. 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. . . .


UPDATE 2: Major Garrett on Fox News now reading from document released by White House Counsel. White House says “at no time” was Joe Sestak offered position of Secretary of the Navy, nor did Sestak request the job. White House claims Sestak was only offered “advisory” positions that would have been uncompensated.

The “uncompensated” part is how the White House intends to keep this from being illegal. If Sestak was offered a paid position, it would then cross the legal line. Notice the White House is releasing this on the Friday of Memorial Day Weekend – trying to bury the news.

Sestak is expected to issue a statement soon. . . .

UPDATE 1: The Washington Post is breaking this story.

Washington Post: Senior White House advisers asked former President Bill Clinton to talk to Joe Sestak about whether he was serious about running for Senate, and to feel out whether he’d be open to other alternatives, according to sources familiar with the situation. But the White House maintains that the Clinton-Sestak discussions were informal, according to the sources. The White House, under pressure to divulge the specifics of its interactions with Sestak, will release a formal statement later today outlining their version of events, including Clinton’s involvement. According to the sources, White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel asked Clinton and his longtime adviser, lawyer Doug Band, to talk to Sestak about the race. It’s unclear right now whether the White House will say that Clinton was asked to suggest specific administration positions for Sestak, whether Clinton floated positions on his own, whether Clinton discussed other options not related to the adminstration, or whether employment even came up at all in the talks. . . .