By CONGRESSDAILY STAFF
President Obama's new computer chief, Vivek Kundra, is on leave from his White House job after the FBI raided his old District of Columbia government office Thursday, arresting a city employee and a technology consultant on corruption charges, a White House official said.
The charges were lodged against the two men at a federal court hearing as the FBI finished searching the city's technology office, which was led until recently by Kundra.
Kundra is on leave from his White House job until further details of the case become known, according to a White House official speaking on condition of anonymity.
At the court hearing, Yusuf Acar, the acting chief security officer in the city's technology office, was ordered held without bond pending a hearing Tuesday. Prosecutors said $70,000 in cash was found during a search of Acar's Washington home and that he posed a flight risk.
Technology consultant Sushil Bansal of Dunn Loring, Va., was released but was ordered not to conduct overseas financial transactions or leave the area. Bansal is due back in court on April 21, and prosecutors said they hoped a plea agreement could be reached in his case.
Acar worked under Kundra, Obama's choice to coordinate federal computer systems. Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs would not say whether the White House knew the investigation was under way when it named Kundra last week.
Mafara Hobson, a spokeswoman for Washington Mayor Adrian Fenty, said she was very confident Kundra is not a target of the investigation.
NextGov's Gautham Nagesh has more on the raid and on Kundra's possible future in the administration here.
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I wonder the same thing. I suspect that if the administration knew something we didn't that media would have been all over it, that there wouldn't have been clarifications within each major media article saying "Kundra not target" etc.
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Responded on July 18, 2011 1:03 AM
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It would be better if he goes on leave until the things are not known to us. One can not be allowed to be on the white house job after his previous department people are arrested in the case of corruption.
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Many blogger and readers alike are asking: Why is Kundra on leave? Does the administration know something we don't?
I wonder the same thing. I suspect that if the administration knew something we didn't that media would have been all over it, that there wouldn't have been clarifications within each major media article saying "Kundra not target" etc.
Which leads me to further question:
1- Could Vivek Kundra be assisting in the investigation? Based on the FBI's (public) affidavit, the investigation has been ongoing since April 2008. The administration knew about the investigation when they vetted Kundra. Surely they wouldn't put him on leave and risk their reputation yet again if there was something awry?
2- My second train of thought is that Vivek Kundra could do incredibly well in the private sector. He has chosen to act as a public servant instead. I can understand why the dedicated and intelligent citizens increasingly shy away from public sector... it's because they don't want to be harassed!