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White House: 'We've been transparent'
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The White House said Thursday President Barack Obama "wasn't aware" of an attempt to persuade Andrew Romanoff to drop out of a Colorado U.S. Senate primary.
Romanoff said Wednesday a White House official mentioned three possible job opportunities last year that "might be available" if he were to drop his Democratic primary challenge to sitting Sen. Michael Bennet, The Denver Post reported. Romanoff released an e-mail he received in September from Jim Messina, deputy White House chief of staff, mentioning possible job openings with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Trade Development Agency, the newspaper said.
In a statement, Romanoff said Messina told him he could not guarantee appointment to any position.
"At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina's assistance in obtaining one," the statement said.
Romanoff said he notified Messina he would not drop out of the primary and has not discussed the matter with anyone else since the September exchange.
The White House has said for months no job was ever offered. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Thursday he believes the administration "has been transparent" about the matter and the president did not know of the discussion with Romanoff last fall.
"The president wasn't aware of that," Gibbs said.
He said presidents, as leaders of their political parties, "have long had an interest in ensuring that supporters didn't run against each other in contested primaries. That's what was done in this case."
The Post noted it first reported on the matter in September but its story generated little interest nationally until Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., said he had been offered a job in exchange for dropping his primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter. Sestak won the primary last month.
WASHINGTON, (UPI) -- The White House said Thursday President Barack Obama "wasn't aware" of an attempt to persuade Andrew Romanoff to drop out of a Colorado U.S. Senate primary.
Romanoff said Wednesday a White House official mentioned three possible job opportunities last year that "might be available" if he were to drop his Democratic primary challenge to sitting Sen. Michael Bennet, The Denver Post reported. Romanoff released an e-mail he received in September from Jim Messina, deputy White House chief of staff, mentioning possible job openings with the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Trade Development Agency, the newspaper said.
In a statement, Romanoff said Messina told him he could not guarantee appointment to any position.
"At no time was I promised a job, nor did I request Mr. Messina's assistance in obtaining one," the statement said.
Romanoff said he notified Messina he would not drop out of the primary and has not discussed the matter with anyone else since the September exchange.
The White House has said for months no job was ever offered. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Thursday he believes the administration "has been transparent" about the matter and the president did not know of the discussion with Romanoff last fall.
"The president wasn't aware of that," Gibbs said.
He said presidents, as leaders of their political parties, "have long had an interest in ensuring that supporters didn't run against each other in contested primaries. That's what was done in this case."
The Post noted it first reported on the matter in September but its story generated little interest nationally until Rep. Joe Sestak, D-Pa., said he had been offered a job in exchange for dropping his primary challenge against Sen. Arlen Specter. Sestak won the primary last month.