Former SEIU boss Andy Stern is supposed to be attending a meeting of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform - the president's bipartisan commission on deficit reduction.
But FOX confirms that Stern, a confidant and adviser to President Obama, is wrapped up in an FBI investigation into payments made to Stern for a book advance and by the union to a local organizer who pleaded guilty to ripping off a voter outreach effort.
Stern has released a statement saying, "I have absolutely no reason to believe, and not the slightest indication, that I am being investigated by federal authorities." But saying that through a release and facing cameras on Capitol Hill is another matter.
Stern's early departure as head of the SEIU raised eyebrows and many on the right decried Obama's decision to put Stern on the Simpson-Bowles debt commission. Now, with word of an investigation, there are more calls for the labor leader to be taken off the panel.
Democrats, who are counting on more than $40 million from the SEIU to fend off Republican advances in November, are likely hoping that Stern takes a sick day Wednesday and doesn't draw more attention to his situation.
But if he doesn't show, Stern might appear to be hiding out and strengthen suspicions among his critics that he has something to hide.
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