The GOP candidate for the 8th House District wants a special prosecutor to look into allegations involving Joe Sestak and Andrew Romanoff of Colorado.

Congressional candidate Mike Fitzpatrick is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate White House job offers to Congressman Joe Sestak and Democratic Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff of Colorado to entice them out of primary fights.

Fitzpatrick, the former Republican congressman challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy to reclaim the 8th District seat, wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder. In it, he cited the violation of federal criminal laws, including 18 U.S.C. 600, which prohibits promising a government position "as consideration, favor, or reward for any political activity" or "in connection with any primary election or political convention or caucus held to select candidates for any political office."

Fitzpatrick said the Obama administration, which is looking into the matter, "cannot continue to investigate and deny anything improper occurred. You can't take one position and investigate at the same time.

"An investigation outside the White House is necessary to put this matter behind us as quickly and as appropriately as possible," he said.

Before sending the letter to Holder, Fitzpatrick asked Murphy to sign it.

"I gave Patrick Murphy the opportunity to join in a letter seeking the truth," Fitzpatrick said. "As a former prosecutor himself, I thought he would understand and appreciate the seriousness of a White House offer of employment in exchange for political action designed to influence the outcome of an election."

Asked to respond to his opponent's call for a special prosecutor, Murphy communications director Sara Schaumburg said in an e-mail: "While Congressman Fitzpatrick might be worried about politicians' jobs, Patrick Murphy is fighting to create thousands of jobs in Bucks County, a priority he shares with working families all across the district."

Last week, the White House admitted it turned to former President Bill Clinton in 2009 to approach Sestak about backing out of the primary in favor of an unpaid position on a federal advisory board - a job the congressman wouldn't have been eligible for.

Sestak declined the offer and defeated Sen. Arlen Specter last month for the Democratic nomination after disclosing the job discussions and highlighting it as evidence of his antiestablishment political credentials. He said he rejected Clinton's feeler in less than a minute.

In a two-page report on the Sestak case, the White House counsel said the administration did nothing illegal or unethical.

Republicans have strongly criticized the offer to Sestak and challenged Romanoff to answer questions about his own dealings with the White House.

The letter from Fitzpatrick to Holder went out last Friday. This Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., wrote to the U.S. Office of Special Counsel, seeking an investigation into possible violations of the Hatch Act, which prohibits quid-pro-quo arrangements in which people are offered jobs as a form of political bribery.

The story of Sestak's job offer was reported in February by Larry Kane, a broadcast journalist in Philadelphia for more than 40 years.

Kane, who has the transcript of his interview with Sestak on larrykane.com, said he had heard from "two primo number one sources" as far back as last summer that the White House offered Sestak a job to get out of the race and clear the field for Specter.

From the transcript:

Kane: Were you ever offered a federal job to get out of this race?

Sestak: Yes.

Kane: Was it the Navy secretary?

Sestak: No comment. I - let me -+

Kane: Was it high-ranking?

Sestak: Let me just say that both here in Pennsylvania and down there, I was called quite a few times and all I've said is, look, I felt when a deal was made that it was hurting the democratic process +

Kane: OK, but, was there a job offered to you by the White House?

Sestak: Ye -

In a phone interview this week, Kane said, "I did not expect a 'yes' answer."

After his talk with Sestak, at 3:45 p.m., Kane said he called the White House Press Office to get its reaction. At 6:45 a.m., 15 hours later, a deputy press secretary said, "You can say the White House says it's not true."

Kane said two things "intrigue" him about the interview: Sestak's affirmative response to the job-offer question and his "no comment" to the query about it being the Navy secretary post.

"If it wasn't Navy secretary, he would have said no," Kane said.

Sestak communications director Jonathon Dworkin said whenever his boss was asked if the position was high-ranking, he wouldn't say and he didn't use that term in any future interviews.

When asked his thoughts on Fitzpatrick calling for a special prosecutor, Kane said, "As far as Fitzpatrick and Murphy, you're not going to get me to comment on that one."

In February, at a Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce event, Kane said the contest will be "one of the greatest congressional races in the nation ... decided by a razor-thin margin."