White House adviser Valerie Jarrett talks scandals, ‘things happen’ adding ‘we will move on’
Valerie Jarrett, a top adviser to President Barack Obama, says she and the rest of the White House remain “very upbeat” despite the series of scandals that have engulfed the Obama administration in recent weeks.
“In any given day, our administration has about 2 million employees, and things happen,” Jarrett tells the Boston Globe. “We put in process procedures to make sure if there has been any wrongdoing, there will be appropriate consequences, and we will move on.”
Jarrett believes Americans will want to press on beyond the scandals.
“We have every confidence that people within the White House have behaved appropriately,” Jarrett says. “People all around the country are counting on us not to get distracted or bogged down by this.”
She adds, “I think everybody knows he’s doing his best. … Our focus is moving the country forward.”
The scandals, the Boston Globe summarizes, are “the singling out of the groups by the IRS, and … the Department of Justice’s combing through phone records of journalists at the Associated Press” but also include more questions surrounding Benghazi.
Jarrett defended the decision by White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler not to inform Obama in late April about the problems at the IRS because the review into the matter was not yet complete.
“She made it clear that she thought it was important for that process to complete itself before involving the president,” Jarrett said. “Now that he is informed, he has already taken action. The head of the IRS has stepped down and a full investigation is underway.”
Though Jarrett said she could not comment on the lawsuit filed against the White House on behalf of some 25 politically conservative groups, she did rejected claims that Obama’s public perception has been marred by the various incidents recently exposed.
“I think everybody knows he’s doing his best,” she said. “Our focus is moving the country forward.”
President Barack Obama walks with Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett Official White House Photo by Pete Souza
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In the words of Hillary Clinton at the Benghazi congressional hearings in January, “What
difference at this point does it make?” In other words, just sweep this, and the other
scandals under the rug and move on… nothing to see here!!