Republicans still have tools to keep the heat on White House about job offers

The top Republicans on the House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform committees will use several tools at their disposal to keep the pressure on the White House over political job offers to primary candidates in the days and weeks ahead.

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas), the ranking member on Judiciary, on Friday reminded Chairman John Conyers (D-Mich.) of his aggressive two-year investigation of the George W. Bush administration’s political firing of U.S. attorneys and urged him to pursue questions about the Obama White House’s offer of political appointments to candidates in contested Democratic primaries with the same ardor.

Smith also requested a Judiciary Committee hearing as soon as Congress returns from the Memorial Day recess.

“Under your leadership, the Judiciary Committee spent two years investigating allegations of politicization at the Justice Department— subpoenaing witnesses, demanding tens of thousands of pages of documents, and holding hearings,” he said. “And yet, when it appears that the Obama White House itself has engaged in possible unlawful political activity, Democrats in Congress are noticeably silent.”

For months, Smith and Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the ranking Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, have been raising questions about administration job offers to Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.). This week, Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff of Colorado also said Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina "suggested" that three positions could be available to Romanoff in exchange for an agreement to not challenge Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), the White House's pick.

The summer before a critical election, Democratic leaders and chairmen will likely prevent any committee action aimed at forcing cooperation from the Obama administration, but Issa and Smith have a number of parliamentary weapons at their disposal that could continue to fan the political fires over the growing controversy.

Issa and Smith will continue to call for the release of any and all documents related to job offers to Democratic congressional candidates. Judiciary Republicans are specifically interested in whether the White House consulted the Justice Department about the legal issues involved in making the job offers and whether there are any documents or e-mails showing any contact on the subject.

“Congress has a duty to the American people to investigate allegations of criminal conduct at the White House,” Smith said in a written statement. “If the administration continues to stonewall Republicans about what really happened in the job offers to Rep. Sestak and Andrew Romanoff, we will pursue the truth by every available means."

Smith specifically mentioned an intent to offer a “resolution of inquiry,” a parliamentary maneuver that must be voted on by all members of the committee and if passed would require the administration to provide all documents, e-mails and phone records on the issue.

Once introduced, the committee has 14 days to hold a vote on it the resolution. It will most likely fail, but would force committee Democrats to take a position on the issue they would rather avoid. House Judiciary Democrats in December voted down a GOP resolution of inquiry that would have required the Justice Department to provide Congress with information regarding the decision to transfer, detain and prosecute Guantanamo Bay detainees in the U.S.

Legal experts argue that Obama officials would have had to know they were committing a crime before they offered Sestak or Romanoff positions. The Hatch Act makes it illegal for a federal employee to use his official “position or authority” to interfere with or affect the result of an election. That’s why Smith and Issa want to know whether the Justice Department was consulted and whether White House officials used their work e-mails to contact candidates or the Justice Department about the offers.

Attorney General Eric Holder did not respond directly to Issa’s questions about whether a special prosecutor should be appointed to examine the Sestak job offer during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee last month.

“With regard to an appointment of a special prosecutor – that is done on a case-by-case basis,” Holder said. “There are regulations that are in place and requirements that have to be met before the appointment of a special prosecutor or independent counsel is appointed. I have great faith in the [Justice Department’s] public integrity section to handle these cases.”

Issa, who is known for his aggressive tactics, plans to use every tool in the minority’s arsenal to keep the heat on the White House and committee Democrats to take action, including urging the appointment of a special prosecutor and calling for a panel vote on subpoenas for documents and depositions.

“We want to give the White House every opportunity to do the right thing and live up to their standard of transparency and accountability by fully disclosing to the American people the extent of their efforts to manipulate the primary election process,” said Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella.

If the White House decides to ignore the requests, Bardella said Republicans would “pursue every means available” to provide full disclosure.

“Whether it be by the threat of a subpoena, deposition or special prosecutor, we will not relent on the American people’s right to know the full scope of the Obama administration’s effort to interfere in primary elections,” he said. “If the White House did nothing wrong, then they should have nothing to hide.”

Issa also will likely make more Sestak headlines on Friday when he speaks at Pennsylvania Republican party event.

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