Dems expand probe of political presentations at agencies

The chairman of a key congressional oversight committee on Thursday asked Karl Rove, White House deputy chief of staff and senior adviser, to provide a list of political briefings given to federal officials on federal property.

Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked Rove in a three-page letter to explain White House policies on giving political presentations such as the one Rove's deputy, Scott Jennings, delivered on Jan. 26 at the headquarters of the General Services Administration.

Waxman said he wants to know whether Jennings or other employees in the political affairs office have given the same or similar presentations to other federal officials. The letter requested answers by April 13.

The presentation made by Jennings at GSA has become a focus of inquiries over possible improper conduct by the agency's chief, Lurita Doan. It included a 28-slide PowerPoint with a list of Republican and Democratic House districts viewed by the White House as most vulnerable in 2008 and a map showing the Senate seats up for grabs in the 2008 election and whether the White House believes Republicans will have to play "defense" or "offense."

Doan and about 40 other GSA political appointees attended the meeting. According to the committee Democrats, six GSA political appointees have given sworn statements saying that Doan asked at the conclusion of the presentation how GSA could help "our candidates in the next election."

The appointees who gave statements included Jennifer Millikin, deputy director of communications, Emily Murphy, the agency's former chief acquisition officer, and Matthew Sisk, special assistant to the regional administrator in Massachusetts.

An 11-page memorandum from the Congressional Research Service found that both the presentation itself and Doan's comments could be violations of the Hatch Act, which bars government workers from engaging in political activity on the job. According to CRS, the White House presentation alone may cross the line if "the sponsor or presenter is closely affiliated/identified with a partisan political campaign."

The March 26 memorandum by Jack Maskell, legislative attorney in CRS' American Law Division, stated that the intent of the meeting is central to determining whether the Hatch Act was violated.

In his letter, Waxman asked whether Rove approved of the slides in Jennings' presentation, and whether he approved of Jennings' participation. Waxman also asked what legal authority Rove believes he has that allows such presentations to be made on federal property during business hours.

At a hearing Wednesday to address allegations against Doan, the committee's ranking member, Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., said he thinks that this type of briefing goes on every day and that the White House may have given the chart to all agencies. He said that was something the committee should look into.

According to a preliminary report from Davis' staff, four out of the six similar "brown-bag luncheons" held at GSA since September 2006 have included a presenter from the White House.