Earlier I posted about the former offices of the government’s CIO being raided by the FBI. Vivek Kundra used to serve as chief technology officer for Washington, D.C. , and was appointed by Obama to his new job. He left the DC job on March 4.
THEN, the DC mayor’s office said Kundra was not a target. I posted that as well, because I wanted to be fair to Kundra. There’s still no definitive indication that he was involved with anything, but now we learn that he has been placed on leave, according to the Associated Press.
When the mayor’s office spoke, to me it didn’t totally resolve everything. After all, the mayor’s office wasn’t investigating the case – the FBI was! And the FBI, to my knowledge, hasn’t commented on Kundra.
Why is Kundra on leave? Accoring to a White House source who spoke on the condition of anonymity (was this a leak or an intentional leak? it sounds more like something intentional…), the administration is waiting to learn more details of the investigation. This could just be a smart, cautious move, but if you have absolutely nothing to worry about, why pull him? Doesn’t that just make him (and you) look bad? Doesn’t that just draw attention to the issue and the record of nomination problems?
This looks like an open and shut case of bribery. A private contractor bribed a government official with cash ($70,000, a la William Jefferson – Democrat, Louisiana) and that’s the end of it. But who knows……….
