Former Faith Based Initiative Director John DiIullio has questioned the legality of White House inquiries about the matter of Evan Gahr's employment which immediately preceded his sudden and otherwise inexplicable dismissal from the Hudson Institute, just days after he called Karl Rove's key Christian Right ally, Paul Weyrich, a "demented anti-Semite" for anti-Jewish remarks long since renounced.

DiIulio, now a University of Pennsylvania professor, says he himself made no calls about Evan Gahr and knew nothing about them when he worked at the White House. But in a rare public statement about his White House days, he says these kind of calls are possibly "improper" or "illegal."

Meanwhile, amid reports that linked him to the phone calls, Jay "a little anti-Semitism is good for the Jews" Lefkowitz has suddenly found that his nomination for special human rights envoy to North Korea, which New York Sun staff writer Eli Lake assured readers in early May was imminent, is now two months overdue, and counting.

The calls made by Special Assistant to the President Tim Goeglein, at the behest of Karl Rove, and countenanced by Lefkowitz, then OMB General Counsel, arguably constitute tortuous interference with contract, lawyers say, because they precipitated the dismissal of Mr. Gahr in violation of his contract.

About two weeks after Mr. Gahr was dismissed by Hudson, a government contractor desperate to maintain the good graces of Karl Rove, he met with Mr. Weyrich at his request. At the meeting, during which Mr. Weyrich made clear he regretted the pain his remarks caused Jews, he volunteered that the White House had called him about the matter, desperate to quell the political storm, the same week of the dismissal. Asked if the White House was responsible, Mr. Weyrich replied, "I wouldn't rule it out. They are very interventionist."

The Hudson Institute, which initially blamed Mr. Gahr's dismissal on improper use of a stuffed chimp during a television debate with one of Paul Weyrich's defenders, long since abandoned that rationale and has tacitly conceded White House malfeasance.

"I have no comment [on the White House role in the dismissal]," says Hudson fellow Michael Horowitz, "I have no comment until the end of time."

Hudson Institute CEO Ken Weinstein was equally defensive when asked why Marshall Wittmann, also the subject of White House complaints, according to the New Republic, subsequently parted ways with Hudson under mysterious circumstances.

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But a statement by Tim Goeglein, which Hudson-duh-posted on its own website, may provide some answers.

Evan Gahr [email protected] has written for the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Washington Jewish Week and many other publications.