Messina's history of primary meddling and bribery

As we've reported, Rep. Joe Sestak of Pennsylvania, locked in a heated Democratic primary with White House tool Arlen Specter, has alleged that the Obama Administration tried to bribe him. According to Sestak, Obama's henchmen offered him a high-ranking post in the administration if he dropped his primary challenge to Specter. Many have speculated that the position was Secretary of the Navy, as Sestak is a former admiral. White House press flack Robert Gibbs has refused to deny the allegations on four separate occasions.

We've been wondering for weeks: Who made the bribe? Sestak is almost certainly telling the truth, so who's the culprit? Rahm Emanuel and Patrick Gaspard are likely suspects, but another name has emerged today: Jim Messina. Messina is Obama's deputy chief of staff -- and he has a history of this sort of corruption.

From the September 27, 2009 edition of the Denver Post:

Not long after news leaked last month that Andrew Romanoff was determined to make a Democratic primary run against Sen. Michael Bennet, Romanoff received an unexpected communication from one of the most powerful men in Washington.

Jim Messina, President Barack Obama's deputy chief of staff and a storied fixer in the White House political shop, suggested a place for Romanoff might be found in the administration and offered specific suggestions, according to several sources who described the communication to The Denver Post.

Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency, sources said.

Then, the day after Romanoff formally announced his Senate bid, Obama endorsed Bennet.

Romanoff was the Colorado Speaker of the House at the time. The Denver Post spends the rest of the article arguing that such bribery is commonplace in Washington. But that's simply not the case. Even with political mastermind Karl Rove at the helm, George W. Bush's administration never offered anyone a job in exchange for dropping out of a race. Further, according to U.S. Code 18, Section 595, someone who “uses his official authority for the purpose of interfering with, or affecting, the nomination or the election of any candidate for the office of President, Vice President, Presidential elector, Member of the Senate, Member of the House of Representatives, Delegate of the District of Columbia or Resident Commissioner, shall be fined under the title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both.” This is criminal activity.

Messina is essentially Rahm Jr. -- he shares his boss' love of profanity and Machiavellian political tactics. But he's also far less visible than Emanuel, shunning the press and preferring privacy. He seems like the perfect choice to bribe a bothersome Democrat politician.

Rep. Darrell Issa, Republican of California, is threatening to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the Sestak flap. If he succeeds, one of Obama's top political henchmen could find himself facing criminal charges.