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Gibbs (kind of) denies Sestak’s job-offer story

After being prodded by reporters for weeks about Congressman Joe Sestak’s (D-7) claim that the White House offered him a job to dissuade him from runner for Senate, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs on Wednesday answered the question—kind of.

“I have talked to several people in the White House,” Gibbs said, according to The Christian Science Monitor. “I’ve talked to people that have talked to others in the White House. I’m told that whatever conversations have been had are not problematic. I think Congressman Sestak has discussed that—this is, whatever happened is in the past, and he’s focused on his primary election.”

Sestak’s primary opponent Arlen Specter has called for Sestak to offer up more details or withdraw the accusation, and Republicans are pressuring the White House for more detailed answers.

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March 17, 2010 at 12:30 pm

--pa2010.com Staff

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  1. Bruce Bailey

    Mar 17th, 2010

    And the way I read it, he (more than kind of) doesn’t deny it. A classic non-denial denial admission non-admission.

  2. David Diano

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Sounds to me like it wasn’t an actual offer, but more of a preliminary inquiry as to what Joe was looking for. (Though I still suspect that Joe let it be known through back channels that he’s be interested in the right offer.)

    Joe has admitted it was an “indirect” offer.

    We know the job wasn’t Secretary of Navy, because Obama’s pick had already started at least a month before the supposed offer.

    In his stump speeches, Joe has already declared that being a ship Captain was the “best” job in his life. It’s unclear whether being Admiral or Congressman would be second. I wonder where Senator and the “job offer” fell.

  3. Tom

    Mar 17th, 2010

    This is the most arrogant administration I’ve ever seen in my life. It’s frightening how a few people can still support this type of behavior. Thankfully, the rest of the country is waking up, seeing the Chicago Way in action and calling Obama what is really is…a ghetto street punk.

  4. David Diano

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Tom-
    If this is the most arrogant administration you’ve seen in your life, then you must be less than two years old and missed Bush and Cheney.

  5. David Diano

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Tom-
    BTW, you get racist “bonus points” for the “ghetto” reference.

  6. TB

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Very good little Tommy. I’m glad to see you did your homework(memorizing Faux News talking points).

  7. Chesco Dem

    Mar 17th, 2010

    If Sestak wants his claim to be taken seriously he has to name names. He’s gotten a lot of (cheap) mileage from this gimmick. Personally, I think it was Sestak who floated the idea to the White House.

  8. HateSestak

    Mar 17th, 2010

    If I was a venal, self-interested politician who was confronted by an Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) probe into my own conduct, and had labor racketeer/gangster allies who were under scruitny by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), I would try to blackmail the White House too. Desperate demagogues employ desperate tactics.

  9. HateSestak

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Bailey: You can read?

  10. HateSestak

    Mar 17th, 2010

    Tom: Many thanks for demonstrating that Sestak’s unsubstantiated allegations against the incumbent President of the United States have done little more than fuel the paranoid delusions of right-wing lunatics. How can any legitimate member of the Democratic Party condone this? Sestak, by making baseless accusations against Obama, has fueled prejudice, race hatred and hate group conspiracy theories. Sounds like a progressive Democratic champion to me!

  11. Lee Levan

    Mar 17th, 2010

    So, Tom, if Obama is “ghetto”, what are you? Aryan Nation?

  12. Isaac L.

    Mar 18th, 2010

    Glad to see Tommy is learning how to use hyperbole. What a precocious young genius to be not only typing at two, but also spouting off Fox News talking points. I blame the parents.

  13. IntelligentVoter

    Mar 18th, 2010

    If anyone thinks that offers don’t get made then they discredit the rest of their arguments. The White House whether Dem or Rep cuts deals all of the time. And they are “smart” enough to do them through 3rd parties so that they can deny it.

    Do I believe an offer was floated to Sestak? Hell yes. Do I believe that the White House was smart enough to float it in a way that they could always deny it or claim that person did not have the authority. Hell yes.

    So for those of you who are arguing this point either way, the point is moot.

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