The Associated Press is reporting in the Los Angeles Times that Rep. Joseph Sestak is sticking by his story that the White House made him an offer to exit the race against Arlen Specter.
Sestak said Thursday at a taping of the Comcast Network's "Larry Kane: Voice of Reason" show that he was offered a high-ranking job but turned it down.
Spokesman Jonathon Dworkin said Friday that Sestak stands by his comments. He declined to provide details about the job offer.
The White House told The Associated Press on Friday that it had no immediate comment on Sestak's comments.
In a related story on the Los Angeles Times blog more details emerge.
When Pennsylvania's Arlen Specter announced at the White House last spring that he was switching from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party, President Obama said he'd do anything he could to help the embattled senator, now 80 years old, win reelection.
Apparently he wasn't kidding.
Joe Sestak, the retired Navy admiral and Pennsylvania congressman who is challenging Specter in the Democratic primary, says the White House offered him a high-ranking administration job in hopes he would not make the race.
In a cable news interview by Larry Kane to be broadcast Sunday, Sestak was asked about rumors that the White House had made feelers to see if he could be lured from the race.
Yes, he acknowledged, but "I'm not going to say who or how and what was offered."
Navy secretary? No comment.
High-ranking? Yes.
Sestak would not give further details, except to say that "both here in Pennsylvania and down there [Washington], I was called quite a few times." Afterward, Sestak told the Philadelphia Inquirer that the offer came in July, not long before he formally announced his candidacy.
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