In Friday's press conference, the following exchange took place.
Chip Reid (CBS News): Money -- $1.4 million. Has there been any discussion -- I know it's early -- any discussion of what he would do with that?
Robert Gibbs: Not that I know of. But, again, Chip, let me point out -- let finish the thought that the President had that you mentioned: "But I also know that this prize reflects the kind of world that those men and women, and all Americans, want to build -- a world that gives life to the promise of our founding documents."
CBS News reports, "President Barack Obama will donate the $1.4 million cash award that comes with the Nobel Peace Prize to charity. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says it's likely that more than one charity will share the windfall."
Anyone seeing the problem?
The White House isn't but they're not known for being informed.
Barack Obama can refuse the money or he can surrender it; however, he cannot direct it of have anything to do with it. That is the law.
And it's amazing just how stupid Robert Gibbs is.
To make it simple, let's first go to a film. Credit for the screenplay is complex and we'll just list all four names given various levels of officials credit: Charles Shyer, Nancy Meyers, Harvey Miller and Buck Henry. What's the film? Goldie Hawn's 1984 comedy Protocol. In it, Sunny Davis goes to work for the US government which uses her to try to land a deal with a foreign government. At one point, she's given a car which the corrupt government official (Robert Gibbs?) immediately announces her thrilled with. She nudges her way to the microphone to say thank you for the gift:
And that car is just about the prettiest thing I have ever seen. And it really gives me a headache to have to tell you that, as a government employee, I will naturally transfer ownership of it to the General Service Administration and include it in a list of foreign gifts to a government official in the monthly protocol report in accordance with Federal Register Order 327.
No, they didn't invent that for the film.
If you click here, you'll be taken to a June 25th posting:
SUBJECT CATEGORY:
Office of Protocol; Gifts to Federal Employees From Foreign Government Sources Reported to Employing Agencies in Calendar Year 2008
DOCUMENT SUMMARY:
The Department of State submits the following comprehensive listing of the statements which, as required by law, Federal employees filed with their employing agencies during calendar year 2008 concerning gifts received from foreign government sources. The compilation includes reports of both tangible gifts and gifts of travel or travel expenses of more than minimal value, as defined by statute. Also, included are gifts received in previous years including four gifts in 2003, three gifts in 2006, twentynine gifts in 2007. These latter gifts and expenses are being reported in 2008 as the Office of Protocol, Department of State, did not receive the relevant information to include them in earlier reports.
Publication of this listing in the Federal Register is required by Section 7342(f) of Title 5, United States Code, as added by Section 515(a)(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1978 (Pub. L. 95105, August 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 865).
Dated: May 19, 2009.Patrick F. Kennedy,Under Secretary for Management, Department of State.
The Department of State submits the following comprehensive listing of the statements which, as required by law, Federal employees filed with their employing agencies during calendar year 2008 concerning gifts received from foreign government sources. The compilation includes reports of both tangible gifts and gifts of travel or travel expenses of more than minimal value, as defined by statute. Also, included are gifts received in previous years including four gifts in 2003, three gifts in 2006, twentynine gifts in 2007. These latter gifts and expenses are being reported in 2008 as the Office of Protocol, Department of State, did not receive the relevant information to include them in earlier reports.
Publication of this listing in the Federal Register is required by Section 7342(f) of Title 5, United States Code, as added by Section 515(a)(1) of the Foreign Relations Authorization Act, Fiscal Year 1978 (Pub. L. 95105, August 17, 1977, 91 Stat. 865).
Barack can't touch the money. He can refuse it or he can surrender it but he can't direct it.
His selecting charities that it could go to? That would be his controlling the money. He's not allowed to. He is not allowed to accept on behalf of himself or on behalf of anything he supports. He is allowed to refuse the money and he is allowed to immediately surrender the money to the US government.
If he uses it for his own personal use or for his own personal choices of charity, he is in violation of the law and skirting the ethical policies that government employees are supposed to follow and, yes, the President of the United States is a government employee.
You have money that was rewarded in an apparent attempt to influence US policy. That's not my opinion, that's the accepted conventional wisdom. Karl Ritter and Matt Moore (AP) offer an an analysis:
Q: Is the Norwegian Nobel Committee, by giving the award to Obama, trying to discourage him from sending more troops to Afghanistan?
A: Committee chairman Thorbjoern Jagland told The AP that it was not explicitly trying to influence any change in Obama's thinking about committing more troops to Afghanistan. But by getting the prize, and the status it confers, Obama may find himself with more leeway -- at least abroad, if not at home -- to seriously debate and decide whether such a surge is needed.
___
Q: Could the Nobel committee be trying to influence other aspects of U.S. foreign policy?
A: Yes, even if it is not trying explicitly to do so. The committee said that Obama had engaged in "extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy" and singled out his effort to "work for a world without nuclear weapons."
The perception is that the Nobel Committee awarded him the prize to influence US foreign policy. So a foreign government has given a sitting US president over a million dollars to influence US foreign policy and no one sees a problem with that? Who selects the Nobel Peace prize committee? The Norewegian Parliament. A foreign government body selected it.
Barack didn't deserve the prize. He's done nothing.
He was in office ten days when he was nominated.
What you have is an attempt by a foreign government to influence US foreign policy and we're talking a one million dollar bribe.
Barack can't steer the money to any charity. He either surrenders it to the US general fund or he rejects it and to be completely above aboard, he should do the latter.
He should reject the money and he should reject the entire prize and the US Congress should pass a law barring any sitting US president from receiving a Nobel Peace Prize. It's disgusting and, yes, Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson won it while they were president.
To be clear, Barack Obama is breaking no law in keeping the 'honor' of the award but the ethical thing to do would be to refuse it because it is an apparent attempt to influence a sitting president. In terms of the cash prize, he is breaking the law if he accepts for his own personal use and, yes, that would include his selecting charities for it to be awarded to. He can have no control over the money and would be better off rejecting it.
nobel peace prize
barack obama
goldie hawn
protocol
cbs news
chip reid
the associated press
karl ritter
matt moore
