At the San Diego Union-Tribune, Steve Breen is looking for suggestions to title Darrell Issa's autobiography. There's a lot to try to pack into a title, from the car theft and the weapons charges to the suspicious fire and the Viper car alarm.
Darrell Issa's attempts to escape the consequences of his earmark scandal hasn't been too effective so far. In his hometown North County Times, he's gotten pinged over his personal profits from taxpayer dollars in the letters section, and the San Diego Union-Tribune has put the kibash on Issa's desperate claim that it's not a legitimate story.
By now it's already starting to become old news to bring up this quote, but it goes to the heart of how Darrell Issa conducts business at the Oversight Committee and how much that's changed now that there's a Democrat in the White House instead of George W. Bush. Back during the Bush years, Issa's line was that "we're supposed to allow the Administration to do its investigation, and then we do oversight -- we're not investigators." But now, despite an investigation explicitly called for by President Obama and begun within the Justice Department, Darrell Issa has gone into full court press over his subpoenas for ATF documents around "Project Gunrunner." According to Issa, the subpoena is necessary because of the "unwillingness of this Administration...to answer questions" about the issue. Except that the Justice Department was already working with the committee and preparing the requested documents for delivery and was subpoenaed anyways. Perhaps Issa decided that getting the documents wouldn't get as many headlines as dropping subpoenas.
Media Matters delves into Rep. Jason Chaffetz, Issa protege and one of Glenn Beck's favorites in Congress. With Glenn Beck set to "transition off," having folks like Chaffetz in Congress to keep pushing crazy conspiracy theories will help maintain Beck's de facto subpoena power.
Looks like Issa Enterprises hasn't been slowed at all by the high-profile firing of Kurt Bardella amidst scandal last month. Instead of weakening the Issa message machine, it may have just expanded the tentacles, as Bardella has resurfaced just a month later with a long, detailed defense of his old boss. It marks the latest in a stream of detailed, indignant Issa defenses in the wake of last week's ThinkProgress report that federal earmarks that Issa secured directly benefit the value of property owned by Issa's family company -- defenses that are increasingly shrill in insisting there's nothing to defend.
Meanwhile, in the event of a shutdown "those who choose to come into work" suggests that Issa will declare all of his staff to be "essential employees" based on the definition issued by Rep. Dan Lungren as those "“whose primary job responsibilities are directly related to constitutional responsibilities." In other words, in the name of fiscal discipline, Issa is going to spend money without oversight or constraint that taxpayers will have to cover after the fact -- because he feels like it. Issa is simply going to ignore that he's helped prevent the federal government from functioning and just keep handing out (and personally accepting) money that has not been appropriated, budgeted, or accounted for in any way. This is often known as off-book deficit spending, and Issa is not only unrepentent, he's bragging about it.
In an interview with Univision, President Obama said "a serious mistake" may have been made in the Project Gunrunner situation. He noted that the Justice Department Inspector General will be conducting an investigation of the matter and said "we'll hold someone accountable" if a improper behavior is uncovered in that investigation. Darrell Issa continued to press his own investigation independent of the Justice Department, which is at direct odds with his own standard for the Oversight Committee. In 2007, he told C-Span "we're supposed to allow the Administration to do its investigation, and then we do oversight -- we're not investigators." That sentiment hasn't prevented Issa from issuing subpoenas over the incident, it seems that since control of the White House changed and Issa got the gavel, his tune has changed significantly.
Issa Watch on Hiatus Indefinitely
The Appearance of Impropriety in Darrell Issa’s Office
Issa responds to ethics problems with conspiracy theories
Issa’s requested DoE loan would have benefited major GOP donor
Issa sought funds via “easy way to end up with corruption in government”
Out of excuses, Issa contradicts himself in avoiding NewsCorp
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posted by Lucas O’Connor at 8:38 am