White House says fired official was ‘confused,’ and ‘disoriented’

The Obama administration fired the inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community because he was “confused” and “disoriented” at a recent meeting, the White House told members of Congress last night.

In a letter to a handful of lawmakers who had expressed concern that Gerald Walpin was fired without due cause, Norman Eisen, the White House Special Counsel for Ethics and Government Reform, wrote that during a recent meeting, “Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the board to question his capacity to serve.”

Some conservatives accuse the administration of firing Walpin for raising questions about the improper use of AmeriCorps funds by Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, a supporter of the President.

Walpin, for his part, denied the White House’s charges against him in an interview with the Washington Examiner’s Byron York, but acknowledged that he “was not feeling well that day, and that he was repeatedly interrupted as he gave a prepared presentation.”

More from York:

In a detailed conversation Wednesday morning, Walpin said the White House is “grasping at nonexistent straws” to justify his termination as watchdog for one of the Obama White House’s favorite federal programs.

Walpin described an atmosphere in which his investigations into fraudulent and inefficient use of federal dollars were often the cause of conflict with the board and top management of the Corporation. “The fact that the board doesn’t like what I was doing in order to perform my duties as an IG is not a reason for removing me,” Walpin said. “In fact, the more diligent an IG is in reporting criticisms of the board and the running of the corporation, the more the board doesn’t want the IG there. But that’s exactly why the IG position was created.”

York also speaks with an attendee at the disputed meeting, whose account seems to fall somewhere between the White House’s claim and Walpin’s denial:

The witness doesn’t remember whether the questions were confusing, or whether Walpin had actual difficulty. But one member of the Corporation board did inquire, although not with Walpin himself, about whether Walpin was OK. The conclusion was that Walpin was “tired and on his way to sick.” In the interview above, Walpin said he was not feeling well by that afternoon.