Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks

"Green jobs" czar steps down

Updated 9:46 AM EST, Sun, Sep 6, 2009

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President Obama's environmental adviser Van Jones resigned from his post late Saturday evening after he came under fire for a series of inflammatory statements he made about Republicans, the White House said early Sunday morning.

Jones, Obama's green jobs "czar," was caught on tape in an expletive-packed rant, directly attacking Republicans in the Senate who he said abused their majority position in the past to push legislation through. He told Politico after the statements were released that the comments were "inappropriate" and "offensive."

In his resignation statement, Jones summed up GOP attacks against a separate charge involving his name's appearance on a petition connected to the Sept. 11 tragedy as a "smear campaign" designed to make support for him waver.

"They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide," Jones said in the statement.

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The White House kept mum about Jones Friday, telling reporters only Jones would remain as part of Obama's administration.

Copyright Associated Press / NBC Washington

First Published: Sep 5, 2009 11:22 PM EST

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{"totSize":72,"payload_type":"json","status":"1","results":[{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_57578192","adminTags":null,"views":5302,"createdBy":12211000,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1285609,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"6 Sep 2009 04:39:20 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"coolpillow","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"727640","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"VICTORY!!! Keep up the pressure, Patriots! Only 34 more to go!!! Yee Haw!!! Woot woot woot!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_57578192","adminTags":null,"views":5302,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1285609,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"6 Sep 2009 04:43:24 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"727647","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Perhaps it would be more appropriate to say he resigned after having to admit what he said was inappropriate, rather than he was "attacked" by the GOP. Unless of course you are really trying to cast dispersions against the GOP..."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_57578192","adminTags":null,"views":5302,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1285609,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"6 Sep 2009 04:50:14 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"727654","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"I dont know where you get your facts, but the GOP never said anything against Van Jones. It was Glenn Beck. Please get better reporters and do a better job."},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_57578192","adminTags":null,"views":5302,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1285609,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"6 Sep 2009 04:51:31 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"727655","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Power to the people!!! This avowed Communist with access to the Oval office had to go. His incendiary and radical ideology is totally out of synch with the American people. President Obama should see the light, Van Jones is just the first of his many czars who have got to go. The Congress should open hearings into the free-for-all by the Obama administration naming wacko advisors to positions of power and acess to taxpayer money. Obama cannot circumvent FBI vetting and Congressional approval to put these anarchists in the White House. Thanks to Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, Fox News and others with the courage to inform the American people of these shennanigans. Other so-called media, like ABC,NBC,CBS, CNN and New York Times should go back to journalism school because they have lost their way. Shame on them!"},{"anonName":null,"pathToMedia":"331759_57578192","adminTags":null,"views":5302,"createdBy":7918844,"createdByPathToPhoto":"116995/icons/defaultMember_116995_portrait.jpg","assocMediaId":null,"mediaName":"Obama Aide Van Jones Resigns After GOP Attacks","parentThreadId":null,"mediaId":1285609,"tags":null,"anonSiteUrl":null,"assocMediaType":null,"createdAt":"6 Sep 2009 04:52:09 GMT","anonEmail":null,"isVisible":true,"approved":true,"numComments":5,"reviewed":true,"createdByUsername":"anonymous_user","pathToPreview":"","mediaType":"EXTERNALMEDIA","commentId":"727656","subject":"","averageRating":0,"body":"Too bad, green policy would have advanced tremendously under Van Jones' leadership."}],"error":"","totPages":15}