Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff confirmed Wednesday that Jim Messina, President Barack Obama’s deputy chief of staff, suggested three administration jobs that would be available to him last September if he dropped his plans to run against U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, who had the support of the White House.
Romanoff said he informed the White House that he would stay in the race. The revelation comes days after the White House confirmed that Rep. Joe Sestak was approached about an unpaid position in the administration if he dropped his campaign against Sen. Arlen Specter. But in this case, Romanoff was offered paid positions in the administration, a clear difference from the Sestak case.
In a statement to the media, Romanoff attached an email from Messina – dated Sept. 11, 2009 – listing the three jobs, two at USAID and one as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, with a page-long set of job descriptions.
Earlier, the White House had confirmed that administration officials had “conversations” last year with Romanoff about possible positions inside the administration. But the White House didn’t confirm which jobs were involved, or that Messina was the emissary to Romanoff.
Republicans have already seized on the Sestak job offer to call into question Obama’s claims to be a Washington reformer – seizing on the fact that it was chief of staff Rahm Emanuel who dispatched former President Bill Clinton to make the offer of an unpaid advisory position to Sestak in hopes of clearing him out of a primary against Specter, the five-term veteran who had Obama’s backing.
The Romanoff case seems likely to step up Republican calls for a full investigation of the White House political operation. Seven Republicans from the Senate Judiciary Committee have already asked the Justice Department to open an investigation into the Sestak matter.
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) who has spearheaded the charge for an investigation into White House actions, said the revelation has "irrevocably shattered" the Obama brand.
"Clearly Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff aren't isolated incidents and are indicative of a culture that embraces the politics-as-usual mentality that the American people are sick and tired of," Issa said in a statement.
In his statement, Romanoff said that in September 2009, shortly after the news media first reported his plans to run for the Senate, he received a call from Messina. “Mr. Messina informed me that the White House would support Sen. Bennet. I informed Mr. Messina that I had made my decision to run,” the statement said..
“Mr. Messina also suggested three positions that might be available to me were I not pursuing the Senate race. He added that he could not guarantee my appointment to any of these positions. At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina’s assistance in obtaining one,” Romanoff said.
Later that day, Romanoff said he received an email from Mr. Messina containing descriptions of three positions. “I later left him a voicemail informing him that I would not change course,” Romanoff said. “I have not spoken with Mr. Messina, nor have I discussed this matter with anyone else in the White House, since then.”
Both the White House and Romanoff say no job offer was made to Romanoff, the former state House speaker, and the White House said it was Democrats in Colorado who promoted him for a position.
“Mr. Romanoff was recommended to the White House from Democrats in Colorado for a position in the administration. There were some initial conversations with him but no job was ever offered,” said White House spokesman Adam Abrams, before the Romanoff statement was released.
The two statements followed an Associated Press story that said administration officials “dangled the possibility of a job” for Romanoff “in hopes he would forego a challenge to Bennet, his rival in an Aug. 10 primary.” The Denver Post had reported about the job conversations back in September.
Romanoff's move to disclose the exact positions suggested and include the actual e-mail from Messina is an effort to cleanse himself from any notion that he acted nefariously.
The former House speaker said he had declined to comment previously because he did not want to politicize the matter. But the growing press inquiries that he received following the controversy surrounding Rep. Joe Sestak forced his hand.
"A great deal of misinformation has filled the void in the meantime. That does not serve the public interest or any useful purpose," he said.
One Colorado Democrat suggested that Romanoff waited so long to address the looming question in order to avoid the tag of political opportunist.
"He was looking at the race for governor, the race for Senate. He didn't want that image," said a Colorado Democrat with longtime ties to the state.
A campaign spokesman would not say whether Sen. Michael Bennet took Romanoff at his word. "Speaker Romanoff's statement and the earlier statements by the White House seem crystal clear," said Bennet spokesman Trevor Kincaid, declining to elaborate.
District Attorney Ken Buck, a Tea Party favorite who is running an insurgent GOP challenge to former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton, used the incident to bolster his own outsider message.
"It doesn't matter which party does it. We need a change in Washington and to get away from the establishment politics that are plaguing our system," said Buck in a statement to POLITICO.
A top Colorado Democrat said that Romanoff first sought assistance in pursuit of a White House job back in March of 2009.
The source, who requested anonymity to speak about the delicate negotiations, said Romanoff's name was discussed in a meeting with a White House liaison about potential jobs in the State Department.
“He talked to a lot of people about wanting a job in the administration. That’s what you do. You’re networking all over the place," said the source.
But the source said Romanoff's interest in the job seemed to fade by mid-summer, when he inched closer to seriously eyeing a campaign.
"There were lots of people out looking for jobs in this administration, I think this another case of that," the source said.
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