W.H. Addresses Romanoff Allegations

A day after Andrew Romanoff accused deputy chief of staff Jim Messina of trying to bribe him out of the Colorado Senate race, the White House tried to clear up any semblance of wrongdoing Thursday morning. Rather than trying to convince Romanoff to drop out by offering him an administration job—as it allegedly did with Joe Sestak—the White House said it was only following up on a job application from Romanoff. In a statement, Robert Gibbs explained that Romanoff had applied for a position at USAID during the presidential transition. Then, last September, Messina “called and emailed Romanoff last September to see if he was still interested in a position at USAID,” according to the statement. “Months earlier, the President had endorsed Senator Michael Bennet for the Colorado seat, and Messina wanted to determine if it was possible to avoid a costly battle between two supporters.” Romanoff said he was no longer interested.