White House Green-Jobs Czar Resigns After 9-11 Truther Flap

A Yale-educated lawyer who was President Obama’s special adviser for environmental jobs has resigned in the wake of controversy over his past statements and his signature on a Sept. 11 “truther” petition.

Van Jones submitted his resignation in a letter marked by a combative tone, the New York Times reports. “On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me,” Jones said. “They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide.”

Jones was criticized for signing a petition in 2004 that questioned whether President Bush had allowed the Sept. 11 attacks to provide a pretext for war. Jones has maintained he didn’t review the language in the petition and does not agree with it.

CNN notes other statements that generated controversy. Jones used a vulgar expression to refer to Republicans and he told the East Bay Express in 2005 that the police acquittal in the Rodney King beating made him a Communist.

The Volokh Conspiracy says the resignation highlights a problem with the policy czar system: “By circumventing the normal appointment and confirmation process, it makes it more likely that a poorly qualified person or one with ridiculous policy views will be put in charge of important issues,” George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin wrote.