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Van Jones, Obama's green jobs czar, resigns

Environmental official had signed 9/11 petition, disparaged Republicans.

Sun, Sep 06 2009 at 7:31 AM EST
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(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Van Jones, the charismatic civic leader who was tapped by President Obama to help push the administration's agenda for green jobs, resigned amid controversy over Labor Day Weekend.
 
"The matter surfaced after news reports of a derogatory comment Jones made in the past about Republicans, and separately, of Jones' name appearing on a petition connected to the events surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks," the Associated Press reported. "That 2004 petition had asked for congressional hearings and other investigations into whether high-level government officials had allowed the attacks to occur."
 
In a resignation statement, Jones said, "On the eve of historic fights for health care and clean energy, opponents of reform have mounted a vicious smear campaign against me. They are using lies and distortions to distract and divide."
 
Here at MNN, we have covered Van Jones frequently -- both before and after he was tapped by Obama. To help give you more background information about Jones, below are a sampling of articles we've written about him:
 

 

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