On the July 20 edition of Fox News' Special Report, referring to the lawsuit Gerald Walpin, former inspector general of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), has filed against President Obama and others, host Bret Baier said: “Gerald Walpin says the president's action was unlawful because it violated congressionally enacted protections for inspectors general in order to prevent political interference.” In reporting Walpin's allegations, however, Baier gave no indication that he contacted the Obama administration for a response to Walpin's suit; nor did he report on the Obama administration's rationale for first suspending, then firing Walpin. Baier also did not note that in a bipartisan letter to Obama, members of the Senate Homeland Security Committee wrote: "[W]e believe you have met the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 with respect to congressional notifications of removal or transfer."

As Media Matters for America has noted, the administration detailed reasons for Walpin's termination in June 11 and June 16 letters.* Such reasons included, but were not limited to, the CNCS board's concerns over Walpin's conduct, the “lack of candor” during his tenure, a May 20 meeting in which “Walpin was confused, disoriented, [and] unable to answer questions,” and a complaint filed by acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Lawrence G. Brown regarding Walpin's actions during his investigation into the misuse of AmeriCorps grants given to a nonprofit organization in Sacramento, California. In his April 29 letter, Brown alleged that Walpin and his staff “did not include” or “disclose” relevant information regarding the case to Brown's office; that Walpin repeatedly discussed the case in the press after being advised “under no circumstance was he to communicate with the media about a matter under investigation”; and that Walpin's “actions were hindering our investigation and handling of this matter.”

Additionally, Baier did not note that Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-CT), ranking member Susan Collins (R-ME), and committee member Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent a letter to the White House on June 19, requesting ongoing cooperation from the White House in reviewing Walpin's termination that stated:

We have received the White House's letter of June 16, 2009, supplementing your prior notification of June 11, 2009, regarding the decision to remove from office the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service, Mr. Gerald Walpin.

We appreciate your communications with the Committee on this matter. Based on the information you provided in the initial letter, and its supplement, we believe you have met the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 with respect to congressional notifications of removal or transfer.

While Baier gave no indication that he had contacted the administration, ABC News senior correspondent Jake Tapper wrote in a July 19 post on his Political Punch blog that, when asked for a response to Walpin's allegations, the administration pointed to the letter from Lieberman, Collins, and McCaskill. From Tapper's blog post:

White House deputy press secretary Josh Earnest told ABC News that the Obama administration “complied fully with the Inspector General Reform Act. The bipartisan leadership of the Senate committee that oversees IG's agrees. We strongly believe these claims are without merit and will be rejected by the courts.”

Earnest was referring to a June 19 letter from the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., ranking GOPer Susan Collins, R-Me., and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., saying that based on information the White House provided “we believe you have met the letter and spirit of the Inspector General Reform Act of 2008 with respect to congressional notifications of removal or transfer.”

Media Matters has documented previous instances of Fox News personalities insufficiently reporting on Walpin's firing or using his suspension to smear the administration.

From the July 20 edition of Fox News' Special Report with Bret Baier:

BAIER: The man fired by President Obama from his job as inspector general of the Coordination -- Corporation, rather, for National Community Service is suing to get his job back. Gerald Walpin says the president's action was unlawful because it violated congressionally enacted protections for inspectors general in order to prevent political interference.

Description of June 11 and June 16 letters corrected.