The summary firing of Americorps Inspector General Gerald Walpin is a key marker on the Obama administration’s drive to end the rule of law.  It is now, obviously, a drive, and not a consequence of bad policy.  The Walpin Affair is significant because it demonstrates the substitution of pretext for enforcement of the law.

Walpin clearly was fired because he revealed that a FOO (Friend of Obama) had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.  Under the law, an Inspector General cannot be removed without 30 days’ advance notice; but Walpin was too dangerous to tolerate, so he was removed on a pretext.  Dangerous precisely because of his exemplary record of experience and professionalism; see the supplemental information given below following the picture.

In this instance, the pretext was that Walpin was “confused” and “disoriented” — incapable of doing his job.  Obviously, he was “confused” and “disoriented” to the extent that he committed a major no-no and outed a FOO, foolishly believing that enforcing the law was more important than fealty to Barack Obama.  But I have had the opportunity to observe and listen to the man, and there is nothing wrong with Walpole’s mental acuity.  He was sacked on a transparent pretext.

As of today, according to Crap Czar Robert Gibbs, the Obama Administration is sticking to its story.  The “confused” and “disoriented” pretext is exactly the kind of thuggism one expects from lowlife Chicago politicians — its paints the victim as incompetent and thus brands his protests as lacking credibility, while providing an excuse to ignore the law.  But Barack Obama took an oath to uphold and enforce the laws of the United States.  The Walpin Affair is an unmistakable signal that Obama has no intention of living up to his oath.

In 2003, Gerald Walpin (center) received the American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Second Circuit. Pictured above with Mr. Walpin are (from left) Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg of the U.S. Supreme Court; AIC Foundation president Justice Randy Holland; Chief Judge John M. Walker, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; and Associate Justice Stephen G. Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court.

“Mr. Walpin is an experienced litigation attorney with particular expertise in commercial and securities litigation and white-collar crimes. . . .  Before joining the firm [of Rosenman and Colin, where he worked for 30 years and was chief litigator for 15 years], Mr. Walpin was Law Secretary to two Federal District Court Judges, served three years as J.A.G. in the United States Air Force and then served for five years as the Chief of Special Prosecutions for the United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York. There he successfully prosecuted the then longest criminal jury trial (which was a securities fraud prosecution) in the history of the United States courts. He also worked under Robert Kennedy and Robert Morgenthau as attorney in charge of prosecution of organized crime in the Southern District of New York; supervised grand jury investigations into Cosa Nostra families and into the Bonanno ‘kidnapping;’ and was referred to in the book Green Felt Jungle for prosecution of several Las Vegas gambling figures.”

(click on the picture above for more information)

By Gerald Walpin:  Shame On Yale Law School For Betraying Its Principles

REFERENCES:

Maggie’s Notebook (article with ongoing updates): Gerald Walpin Fired By President Obama

The White House Fires a Watchdog

Gerald Walpin speaks: The inside story of the AmeriCorps firing

White House Plays Hardball; Says Fired IG Walpin Was “Confused, Disoriented” Engaged in “Inappropriate Conduct”

The curious firing of Gerald Walpin gets … curiouser