DENVER—Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele on Thursday accused the Barack Obama administration of offering a “quid pro quo” to former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff if he would drop his primary challenge to Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet.
Federal law draws “a very bright line” that makes it illegal to offer a taxpayer-funded job in exchange for any kind of action, Steele said.
“It’s clear the administration has not just gone up to that line but crossed over,” he said.
Steele made his remarks on “The Cari and Rob Show” on KRAI radio in Craig.
Romanoff said Wednesday the administration described three federal jobs that might be available to him if he were not challenging Bennet. He says he wasn’t promised a job and didn’t pursue one.
But Steele depicted the discussions as closer to a concrete offer.
“Clearly there is a quid pro quo process that was put in place by the West Wing of the White House, orchestrated and implemented by Rahm Emanuel,” he said. Emanuel is Obama’s chief of staff.
Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, told KRAI that the Justice Department should investigate.
“I think that the revelation by Andrew Romanoff yesterday proves that the White House tried to buy Romanoff off, that they tried to bribe him into not running against Michael Bennet for the U.S. Senate,” Wadhams said.
He also criticized Romanoff for not disclosing the discussions immediately after they happened in September.
“I don’t think Romanoff is the victim here. I think Romanoff is culpable because he could have revealed this nine months ago,” Wadhams said.
