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BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: More on the Inspector-General scandals. Ironically, as Byron York of the W?

By Glenn Reynolds

BEHIND CLOSED DOORS: More on the Inspector-General scandals.

Ironically, as Byron York of the Washington Examiner has reported, publicity about scandals at AmeriCorps — especially the taxpayer money misspent by a charity founded by former NBA star Kevin Johnson, an Obama ally who is now the Democratic mayor of Sacramento — was exactly what the administration had hoped to squelch by firing Walpin.

That move has clearly backfired. In addition to the discovery process of a federal lawsuit and the Lieberman-Collins investigation, Walpin’s case is also the subject of a separate inquiry by Sen. Chuck Grassley — the Iowa Republican regarded as the Senate’s patron saint of IGs — as well as an FBI investigation into allegations that someone in Sacramento deleted e-mails relevant to Walpin’s investigation of Johnson’s St. HOPE charity.

Beyond that, Walpin’s dismissal was the first of three similar cases of pressure against IGs, along with the termination of ITC inspector general Judith Gwynne’s contract and the sudden retirement of the Amtrak IG Fred Wiederhold.

Those familiar with the investigations caution against “playing connect-the-dots” with these three distinct cases. However, some informed Republican sources are beginning to call attention to other evidence of a concerted effort to blindfold, muzzle or neuter watchdogs — especially those who dare to growl at Democrats.

Stay tuned.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).