Top Republicans shocked by Aussie's immigration troubles

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Michael Kamburowski, an Australian immigrant who served as the California Republican Party's chief operating officer, abruptly resigned Sunday -- less than 24 hours after The Chronicle reported he had been ordered deported in 2001, jailed in connection with the order, and now has a $5 million wrongful arrest lawsuit pending against U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials.

The move was reported in a terse statement late Sunday by state party chair Ron Nehring, who said the state GOP's Operations Committee accepted Kamburowski's resignation during a teleconference with him.

"We thank him for his service,'' Nehring said in his e-mail statement.

The news came as GOP officials and leaders expressed shock and fury at the troubled -- and apparently unknown -- immigration history of the person who handled the multimillion-dollar budget of the nation's largest state Republican Party.

Former White House adviser Steve Schmidt, who ran the re-election campaign for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, angrily described the appointment of Kamburowski as "almost a parody of incompetence and malfeasance.''

"Somebody who has been imprisoned, faced deportation, has never worked on a state political campaign ... and who is suing the government for harm inflicted by his deportation order defies description,'' Schmidt said. "The bylaws of the Republican Party invest enormous authority in the position of chief operating officer -- and it's clear that this person brings no experience and qualifications to run a state party of the size of California, not to mention the assorted legal issues involved.''

Heh.