As the Kundra turns: Old theft plea surfaces

They call our president No-Drama Obama, but that's certainly not the case with his pick for federal CIO, Vivek Kundra. Last week's FBI search of his former DC office and arrest of the fellow serving as acting city CTO doesn't appear to have anything to do with Kundra, but a 1996 criminal case certainly appears to.

The case, which resulted in probation before judgment (a Maryland construct allowing defendants to plead guilty but perhaps avoid problems associated with having a conviction on their records), involves a theft of something of less than $300 value. According to the court record, the citation for stealing whatever-it-was was issued on June 25, 1996. Kundra was levied fines and fees totaling $555, $400 of which was suspended. And what was it, exactly? Multiple press outlets are angling for that detail, though neither Kundra's reps nor representatives of Kundra's then-lawyer have yet commented. The best unfounded speculation in the blogosphere is "a garden gnome," though considering the records show Kundra to have been 6'1" and 140lbs at the time, I personally hope it was an emergency cheeseburger.