White House Refuses to Answer Questions About Green Jobs Czar

More than five months after the Obama administration announced the hiring of its “green jobs czar,” Van Jones (right), the White House has refused to explain whether it knew of Jones admitted black nationalist and radical communist history and just who hired the advisor.

Also questions continue to fester about how Jones, who has an arrest history, passed security clearances for his White House position.

Cliff Kincaid, an editor at Accuracy in Media, attempted to answer some of these questions when he used the Freedom of Information Act in April to request immediate access to all documents relating to the appointment of Jones to the White House Council on Environmental Quality, where he serves as special adviser for green jobs, enterprise and innovation.

The Council, which hired Jones, replied that it “searched its records system and found none responsive” for Kincaid’s request.

The Council recommended more information be sought at the White House Press Office, which did not respond to Kincaid’s requests about on how Jones was hired.

The White House also did not reply to numerous WND requests for comment.

Fox News Channel’s Glenn Beck program similarly asked the White House whether it was aware of Jones radical history.

The White House provided the following response: “Mr. Jones is entirely focused on one policy goal: building clean energy incentives which create 21st century jobs that improve energy efficiency and utilize renewable resources.”

The lack of available information concerning Jones is unusual since the Obama transition team previously touted it developed a seven-page questionnaire that included 63 questions about an applicant’s background and qualifications for a federal job. Kincaid pointed out that CNN reported the document was to be for “every candidate for Cabinet and other high-ranking positions in the incoming administration.”

However, there is no information Jones ever filled out the document.

Also, there are open questions as to how Jones obtained a White House security clearance. He spent time in jail several times, including in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots.

Jones was the leader and founder of a radical communist and black nationalist group, the communist revolutionary organization Standing Together to Organize a Revolutionary Movement, or STORM. The organization had its roots in a grouping of black people organizing to protest the first Gulf War. STORM was formally founded in 1994, becoming one of the most influential and active radical groups in the San Francisco Bay area.