Krauthammer falsely claims Romanoff “has said explicitly” WH offered job to quit race

Written by Terry Krepel

Published

Charles Krauthammer falsely claimed that Democratic Senate primary candidate Andrew Romanoff “has said explicitly” that he was offered “an administration job” to cease his campaign. In fact, the claim was made by anonymous sources, not Romanoff, and the Obama White House has denied making any such offer.

From the May 28 edition of Fox News' Special Report:

KRAUTHAMMER: Last issue raised by Major -- it's also in The Washington Post. We know that in Colorado, the former state House speaker, Andrew Romanoff, has said explicitly that the deputy White House chief of staff -- this is not anonymous, this is not somebody unnamed -- the deputy White House chief of staff offered him an administration job if he dropped out of that race. Now, that meets the criteria that the White House holds for improper action. It was a paid job, apparently, in the USAID, and it was a direct quid pro quo. So by the White House standards, a crime has been committed in the Colorado case.

Romanoff has said nothing, “explicitly” or otherwise, about alleged offer

In fact, the disputed allegation was made by anonymous sources. The allegations were made originally in a September 2009 article in The Denver Post. The Post claimed that “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,” but that “Romanoff turned down the overture, which included mention of a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency, sources said.” The Post claimed its information came from “several top Colorado Democrats” who remained anonymous.

Denver Post: “Romanoff declined to discuss any such communications.” Contrary to Krauthammer's assertion that Romanoff “has said explicitly” a job offer was made, The Denver Post reported that “Romanoff declined to discuss any such communication and said the only job he's focused on is 'representing the people of Colorado in the United States Senate.' ” The Post reported on May 27 that Romanoff had again “declined to comment on the issue.”

The White House has flatly denied that an offer had been made. The September 2009 article also reported that "[t]he White House said that no job was ever offered to Romanoff and that it would be wrong to suggest administration officials tried to buy him out of the contest. 'Mr. Romanoff was never offered a position within the administration,' said White House spokesman Adam Abrams."

Wash. Post, Krauthammer's apparent source, also made false claim

Krauthammer said his claim about Romanoff was “in The Washington Post.” The Post reported in a May 28 article:

And in Colorado, former state House speaker Andrew Romanoff has said that Messina offered him an administration job if he dropped out of his primary campaign against Sen. Michael Bennet. One of the alleged offers was at USAID, the foreign aid agency, according to local news reports. But Romanoff announced his candidacy anyway.

The Post offered no evidence to support its claim that “Romanoff has said” a job offer was made.