Trouble For Jones

At his daily press briefing Friday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said of the embattled green jobs czar Van Jones only that "he continues to work for the administration." Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Pence (R-IN), a potential White House hopeful for 2012, is calling on Jones to resign.

Jones is under heavy fire from the right for several things: a video surfaced of him saying in February (before he joined the administration) that Republicans are "assholes," for which he has apologized; it came to light that in 2004 he signed onto a petition calling for an investigation into whether Bush administration officials "may indeed have deliberately allowed 9/11 to happen, perhaps as a pretext for war," a sentiment he has disavowed; and, Friday morning, ABC's Jake Tapper reported that Jones was on the "organizing committee" of a 2002 march in San Francisco calling for a congressional inquiry into 9/11.

And, he's being used as campaign fodder by California GOP gubernatorial candidate Steve Poizner, who sent out a web ad with footage of opponent Meg Whitman saying complimentary things about Jones...and spoofing The Love Boat.

If Pence is any indication--and, as a prominent GOP legislator with potential 2012 aspirations, he might be--other GOP politicians may well come out swinging with calls for Jones to resign soon. With little protection from the White House, it could spell serious trouble.