E-mail points to White House involvement in USDA’s firing of Shirley Sherrod
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Version 0 of 1. A 2010 e-mail from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says his department was “waiting for the go-ahead” from the White House before accepting the resignation of Shirley Sherrod, according to newly released documents, despite Obama administration assertions that her ouster was Vilsack’s decision alone. The e-mail, which was made public Friday in an ongoing federal court case over the matter, shed more light on the evening of July 19, 2010, when the USDA hastily asked Sherrod to resign after a video showing her making supposed racist remarks surfaced on a conservative Web site. Her dismissal turned into a racial firestorm after it became clear that the video had been edited and her remarks were meant to tell a story of reconciliation. Both the White House and Vilsack have repeatedly said that the agriculture secretary made the decision to ask for Sherrod’s resignation without White House input. The e-mails, along with earlier e-mails obtained by the Associated Press under the Freedom of Information Act in 2010 and 2012, make it apparent that Vilsack wanted Sherrod to leave the department and ordered her resignation. But a newly released e-mail sent by Vilsack himself suggests that he was awaiting a decision from White House officials on how to proceed. “She has offered her resignation which is appropriate,” reads an e-mail from the initials “TJV” to Dallas Tonsager, then the USDA undersecretary of rural development and Sherrod’s boss. Vilsack’s middle name is James. “The WH is involved and we are waiting for the go-ahead to accept her resignation. I suspect some direction from WH soon.” The USDA would not comment on the e-mail, but a spokesman did not dispute that Vilsack wrote it. The e-mail, sent at 5:37 p.m. on July 19, was in reply to an earlier e-mail from Tonsager addressed to “Mr. Secretary.” The correspondence is evidence in a federal defamation case that Sherrod filed in 2011 against the late blogger Andrew Breitbart, who posted the video, and his colleague Larry O’Connor. The Justice Department has been pushing to keep the e-mails sealed but lost Friday afternoon when U.S. District Judge Richard J. Leon ruled that they did not have to be kept private. Vilsack’s e-mail was brought up at a court status hearing earlier last week. According to a transcript, a lawyer for Breitbart’s wife, who was substituted as defendant after the blogger died unexpectedly in 2012, said the e-mail was “extremely telling” and “contains a statement that is arguably inconsistent with the public statements.” Justice Department attorney David Glass replied to the judge that “when there is a reference to the White House was involved, what it means is the White House liaison was involved.” The USDA’s White House liaison, Kevin Washo, was in touch with the White House through the night, according to the documents. In another newly released e-mail, a White House aide writes to Valerie Green of the White House presidential personnel office, saying “USDA is looking for direction — can someone contact Washo?” Green replies that she is “reaching out now.” Green writes Washo asking him to loop her in, “Please. Please. Please.” The department that night accepted Sherrod’s resignation as a USDA rural development official in Georgia. When her full speech came to light the next day, it was obvious that Sherrod, who is black, was speaking about overcoming her initial reluctance to help a white farmer decades ago. As the administration came under fire, Vilsack reversed course, apologizing and asking her to return to the department — an offer she declined. President Obama also offered Sherrod an apology. White House officials acknowledged weeks later they had been more involved than they initially let on and had stayed in close touch with the USDA that night. They still maintained, however, that the decision to seek Sherrod’s resignation was Vilsack’s alone. — Associated Press |