"White House Adviser on 'Green Jobs' Resigns"

"In a victory for Republicans and the Obama administration’s conservative critics, Van Jones resigned as the White House’s environmental jobs 'czar' on Saturday.

Controversy over Mr. Jones’s past comments and affiliations has slowly escalated over several weeks, erupting on Friday with calls for his resignation.

Appointed as a special adviser for 'green jobs' by President Obama, Mr. Jones did not go through the traditional vetting process for administration officials who must be confirmed by the Senate. So it was not until recently that some of Mr. Jones’s past actions received broad airing, including his derogatory statements about Republicans in February and his signature on a 2004 letter suggesting that former President George W. Bush might have knowingly allowed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks to occur in order to use them as a 'pre-text to war.'"

Sarah Wheaton reports for the New York Times September 6, 2009.