Candidate Obama on the Night of the South Carolina Democratic Primary:  “We're looking to fundamentally change the status quo in Washington…we’re up against the idea that it’s acceptable to say anything and do anything to win an election.”

WASHINGTON. D.C. – House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued the following statement challenging President Obama to use today’s 12:30 p.m. (EST) press conference as an opportunity to address allegations made by Pennsylvania Senate Democratic nominee and three-star Navy Admiral Rep. Joe Sestak (D-PA) that someone inside the Obama White House offered him a job in exchange for his withdrawal from the PA Senate Primary race:

“President Obama has an opportunity today to live up to the standard of transparency and change he so willfully set when he was candidate-Obama.  For more than three months, allegations have gone unaddressed by this White House that someone inside the Obama Administration offered Rep. Joe Sestak a job in an attempt to maneuver him out of the Pennsylvania Senate Primary.

“President Obama has an obligation to comeforward and disclose who inside his White House talked with Joe Sestak, what that person said, offered and if was ever made aware of it.  Even if the letter of the law wasn’t violated, the spirit of President Obama’s call for change certainly was.  I for one would like to know if the President condones such tactics and if not, what is he going to do about it?

“As the nation struggles to overcome crippling unemployment and the fallout from the Gulf Coast oil spill, the White House’s stonewalling is distracting attention away from other important issues. It is also contrary to the campaign promises of transparency and changing ‘business as usual’ made by the President.”

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