Sestak: White House offered me a job; Gibbs defends White House spill response

NBC: MEET THE PRESS - Sestak: White House offered me a job

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) also appeared on the show. He confirmed that he was offered a job by the administration in exchange for potentially withdrawing his primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.), but he refused to give the details of the offer. "Anything that goes beyond that is for others to talk about."Sestak defended his votes for TARP and the stimulus, telling host David Gregory, "I did vote for those because they were needed." Asked what parts of Obama's agenda he has "stood up to," Sestak responded that he thought Obama "has done great, good things," but needed to go farther in terms of helping small business.

CBS: FACE THE NATION - Gibbs defends White House spill response

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs defended the administration's response to the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "We are working every minute of every day to ensure the response is everything it should be," Gibbs said. He said the Justice Department has been gathering information but declined to say if the spill is being investigated as a criminal matter. Gibbs dismissed the suggestion that the oil spill would be President Obama's "Katrina." Gibbs said Palin "get slightly more informed as to what's going on in and around oil drilling in this country" in response to the former Alaska governor's suggestion that campaign contributions from oil companies played a role in the adminstration's response to the disaster.

Gibbs said the United States is "actively trying to find" American-born cleric Anwar al-Alwaki, who recently released a 45-minute video tape encouraging terrorist acts against the United States.

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) repeated his assertion that the White House had offered him a job in the administration if he didn't challenge Sen. Arlen Specter in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary. Sestak declined to say what job he was offered. Gibbs would not say if such an offer was made, but said "nothing inappropriate" had taken place

Sestak, White House still mum on alleged administration job offer

Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) and White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs refused to give further details this morning on Sestak's claim that he was offered a job last summer by the Obama administration if he would not run against Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) in the Pennsylvania Democratic primary.

Sestak repeated his claim today, telling NBC's David Gregory that he was offered a job. But he dodged questions on the specifics, saying that "anything that goes beyond that is for others to talk about." He repeated that assertion in an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," saying that "anything beyond that just gets into politics."

Gibbs, who also appeared on "Face the Nation," said that "nothing inappropriate" happened, but would not confirm whether or not an offer was made in the first place.

In the days since Sestak's upset victory over Specter, both the White House and the two-term congressman have come under increasing pressure to provide further details on Sestak's claim.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said in a statement this week that "it is unacceptable for an administration that touts itself as the 'most transparent' in history to continue to stonewall a significant and potentially devastating accusation of political corruption."
Steele repeated his call this morning in a joint appearance with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine.

"What did the president offer and when did he offer it?" Steele said on ABC's "This Week." He questioned whether Sestak is "lying" by saying Obama made an offer, adding that "at this point, somebody's got to come through and clarify exactly what happened."

For his part, Kaine said he had "no idea" whether Sestak was offered a job, but acknowledged that "if the question gets asked," it's something that the White House "should deal with."