Sestak Has ‘Moral Imperative’ To Answer Questions On White House Job Offer

Fresh off a win over incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary, Rep. Joe Sestak is still obligated to answer questions about a job he says the White House offered him as an inducement not to run against Specter, a leading House Republican said.

“Could the reason why Congressman Joe Sestak refuses to name names is because the very people who tried to bribe him are now his benefactors?” Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) ranking member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said in a statement Wednesday.

“For months, Sestak has repeatedly said without equivocation that the White House illegally offered him a federal job in exchange for dropping out of the race,” Issa said.

“Was Joe Sestak embellishing what really happened or does he have first-hand knowledge of the White House breaking the law? If what he said is the truth, Joe Sestak has a moral imperative to come forward and expose who within the Obama Administration tried to bribe him,” he added.

Sestak on Tuesday defeated the incumbent Republican-turned-Democrat Sen. Arlen Specter in the Democratic primary even though Specter had the support of President Barack Obama and most establishment Democrats.

In February, Sestak said that a White House official offered a high level administration job to drop out of the primary against Specter. If this is true, it could violate federal statutes dealing with bribery, or with interfering in a federal election.

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