ISSA D REP

919 bak

wow huge # tags, why bail? saw blue wave coming; plum trade gig pension plan trump

7/20 someone noted that ISSA had weaponized house investigations eg Benghazi

---

an 3 25

Trump, much to the frustration of Democrats, returned to Washington on January 20 with GOP majorities in both branches of the Congress. But they're small majorities.

In the U.S. Senate, Republicans have a 53-47 majority — which is large enough to get Trump's most controversial nominees confirmed, but not enough to overcome the 60-vote demand of the filibuster. Nor is it enough to get a "guilty" vote in an impeachment.

Trump and some of his allies, including billionaire Tesla/SpaceX/X.com leader Elon Musk, are calling for the impeachment of federal judges who are blocking, at least temporarily, some of the president's executive orders. But if federal judges were to be indicted on articles on impeachment in the U.S. House of Representatives, Republicans wouldn't have enough votes for a "guilty" verdict in the U.S. Senate.

According to Politico reporters Meredith Lee Hill, Hailey Fuchs and Jordain Carney, however, GOP lawmakers are thinking about ways to attack federal judges other than impeachment.

"Top Republicans are likely to put at least one bill, California Rep. Darrell Issa’s 'No Rogue Rulings Act,' on the floor in early April, according to two people granted anonymity to discuss scheduling plans," the journalists explain in an article published on March 21. "The legislation would crack down on the ability of lower-court judges to issue far-reaching injunctions. That is seen by Speaker Mike Johnson and other House Republican leaders as a viable outlet as they sort out the way forward on the judicial impeachments that have been endorsed by Trump and his billionaire ally Elon Musk. A spokesperson for Johnson said the speaker and the Judiciary Committee are reviewing 'all available options.… to address this urgent matter.'"

Hill, Fuchs and Carney continued, "House Republicans have filed impeachment resolutions targeting four district judges, including one this week targeting the jurist who sought to block Trump's effort to deport alleged gang members to El Salvador.… But there is widespread recognition inside the House GOP that impeachments — besides being costly in time and political capital — do not have the votes to succeed given Republicans' narrow majority. That has prompted GOP hardliners to back-channel with Trump allies on alternatives they could push across the House floor."

House Republicans, according to the Politico journalists, "are also discussing one-off resolutions condemning recent judicial rulings against Trump."

"House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan's team has privately advised that members' offices are free to share their opinions on legislative strategy around the courts but that Jordan himself intends to stick to a more vague approach, saying everything is on the table, according to one Republican Hill aide," Hill, Fuchs and Carney explain. "There is, however, a particular interest in restricting the authority of federal district judges to hand down nationwide injunctions, according to four Republicans familiar with the matter."

*Read the full Politico article at this link.

===

an 3 25

Trump's stranglehold on the Republican Party was evident when, on Monday, March 3, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) — a GOP lawmaker in a deep blue state — tweeted, "Today I will nominate @realDonaldTrump for the Nobel Peace Prize. No one deserves it more."

But according to the Daily Beast's Sean Craig, Issa "will have to wait nearly a year" because "nominations for the 2025 prize closed over a month ago on January 31."

Issa, Craig notes, "is at least qualified to nominate" Trump. But Craig argues that Trump "would seemingly be ineligible for" the Nobel Peace Prize for a long list of reasons.

The Nobel Peace Prize, which goes back to 1901, honors those "who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations."

"Since taking office in January," Craig observes, "Trump has frequently threatened to take over the territory of multiple foreign countries, refusing to rule out using military force in some cases. On Tuesday, (March 4), he enacted 25 percent tariffs on goods imported from Canada — a country he has referred to as the 51st state and suggested he will seize using America's economic might. Last week, he shared a deranged, AI-generated video of a reimagined Gaza, rebuilt in his honor, following repeated claims that he wants to displace its residents and take over the war-torn Palestinian enclave."

Craig continues, "Trump has also said he would consider using the U.S. Armed Forces to seize Greenland, a Danish territory, and the Panama Canal. In addition, Trump cut off military aid to Ukraine on Monday and is in the process of shutting down the U.S. Agency for International Development, the latter of which an official warned could lead to death 'on a massive scale.'"Trump's stranglehold on the Republican Party was evident when, on Monday, March 3, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) — a GOP lawmaker in a deep blue state — tweeted, "Today I will nominate @realDonaldTrump for the Nobel Peace Prize. No one deserves it more."

But according to the Daily Beast's Sean Craig, Issa "will have to wait nearly a year" because "nominations for the 2025 prize closed over a month ago on January 31."

Issa, Craig notes, "is at least qualified to nominate" Trump. But Craig argues that Trump "would seemingly be ineligible for" the Nobel Peace Prize for a long list of reasons.

The Nobel Peace Prize, which goes back to 1901, honors those "who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations."

---

biden laptop david weiss 1123

our favorite keynote speaker/ CRA:

https://oversight.house.gov/sites/democrats.oversight.house.gov/files/documents/20090923alford.pdf

9/09 cites CRA issa rank member

civil rights laws --> job killers

~ waxman-markey

House Committee on Oversight and Reform

Search domain oversight.house.gov https://oversight.house.gov › sites › democrats.oversight.house.gov › files › documents › 20090923alford.pdf

National Black Chamber of Commerce1350 Connecticut Avenue NW Suite 405, Washington DC 20036 ... Harry C. Alford President/CEO .Honorable Chairman Towns, Ranking Minority Member Issa, the National Black Chamber of ... Our study done by Charles River Associateshas been accepted by many prestigious organizations. In that study, it clearly shows ...

President/CEO Harry Alford's testimony before the ...

Search domain nationalbcc.org

https://www.nationalbcc.org › news › testimonials › 849-presidentceo-harry-alfords-testimony-before-the-committee-on-oversight-and-government-reform-scheduled-for-september-23rd-2009-69504073

Our study done by Charles River Associates has been accepted by many prestigious organizations. In that study, it clearly shows that certain geography will suffer the greatest impact from losing the estimated 3.3 million jobs as a result of this bill being enacted. Attached is a map showing a 700 mile radius around Nashville, Tennessee. This ...

===

an 1020

marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and Republican candidate who is expected to win her House race in Georgia next month, donated $450,000 to her own campaign after receiving a six-figure Paycheck Protection Program loan from the government for her construction company.

Greene, who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory and posted videos attacking Black people, Muslims and Jews, won the Republican primary in Georgia's 14th congressional district in August despite opposition from Republican leaders. She is almost certain to take over the seat now held by retiring Republican Rep. Tom Graves, especially after her Democratic opponent dropped out of the race last month in a district President Trump carried by 50 points. Trump has since praised Greene as a "future Republican star."

Greene's bid was partially funded by a super PAC allied with the House Freedom Caucus, which has opposed additional funding to provide coronavirus relief to Americans. Greene has opposed additional spending as well, declaring in a Facebook video that "the best stimulus for Americans is allowing Americans to go back to work!"

Despite her opposition to the stimulus funding and the PPP, her family's company, Taylor Commercial, received a six-figure PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 earlier this year. New York Magazine reported that her name had stopped appearing on the company's registration forms in 2012 but was added back in 2019.

Greene, who had loaned her campaign $900,000, donated $450,000 to her campaign about two months after the PPP loan, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Her main opponent in the Republican primary, neurosurgeon John Cowan, raised questions about the donation during the campaign.

"Earlier this week, you said that you didn't want Congress to pass more COVID-related emergency funds for businesses. But your business took as much as $350,000 in PPP loans from the federal government at the same time you were putting $900,000 into your campaign,". "So if you don't need the money and you have the discretionary funds, will you commit to returning that money to the citizens?"

Greene accused Cowan of being "disconnected" from business owners and "people who have struggled during this government shutdown."

"I am appalled at the fact that you cannot comprehend that I have a construction company and we can't do construction remotely at home," she said, not denying that she opposed the very funds that her company drew from.

"Construction companies were considered essential and they didn't shut down," Cowan shot back. "So you were making plenty of money — plus you used $900,000 of your own money during the campaign. Don't you think you had a little extra to pay your employees? I find it disingenuous that you took money from taxpayers to pay for your employees while you were paying yourself."

Spencer Hogg, Cowan's campaign manager, later said in a statement that Greene's company "wasn't one of those facing hardships."

"She says she's a fiscal conservative, she said last week that she opposed additional emergency funding for businesses forced to close because of COVID, but as we've seen on multiple issues, Marjorie doesn't let principle interfere with self-interest," he said in a statement. "If she has enough money to spend nearly $1 million to advance her own political ambitions, then she has enough to pay her employees, particularly in an industry that didn't have to stop working during the lockdown."

Greene's campaign did not respond to questions from Salon.

Greene is not the only Republican candidate who has self-funded a campaign while taking PPP loans.

Former Rep. Darrell Issa,R-Calif., received a PPP loan for one of his companies worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in May, weeks before he loaned his campaign $150,000. Issa, who has a net worth of $280 million to $400 million and was the richest member of Congress between 2000 and 2018, is trying to stage a political comeback by running for the Southern California seat recently vacated by convicted former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican.

Issa's Democratic opponent ,Ammar Campa-Najjar, called for "millionaires like Darrell Issa" to be banned from collecting PPP loans during a debate last week.

Issa said at the debate that he opposed funding the PPP entirely, arguing it would be "foolhardy" and that "paying people not to work has run its course."

Another California Republican candidate, Michelle Steele, also received a PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in April for her family law firm. She donated $500,000 to her campaign in California's 48th congressional district against Rep. Harley Rouda, a Democratic freshman narrowly elected in the 2018 "blue wave."

Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, received PPP loans worth up to $7 million for his auto dealerships before donating $250,000 to his campaign.

Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group that tracks recipients of PPP loans, called on all four candidates to return the money to taxpayers.

"The PPP program was meant to save jobs, not bail out business owners looking for a gig in D.C.," spokesman Derek Martin said in a statement to Salon. "These candidates should return this money and tell the president to get back to work on a relief bill that will help all Americans during this pandemic."

===

9/20

Trump is continuing to harm his party downballot, which is why Daily Kos Elections is moving three more contests in the direction of the Democrats. You can find all of our Senate, gubernatorial, and House ratings at each link.

• CA-50 (Safe R to Likely R): Republican Darrell Issa looked like a sure bet to return to the House after he narrowly prevailed in the March top-two primary for California's 50th Congressional District, but two polls taken over the summer have shown him locked in a surprisingly tight race with Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar.

A late July Campa-Najjar internal from Strategies 360 had Issa ahead 47-43, while an early September SurveyUSA poll showed the Republican up just 46-45. And while Campa-Najjar's team did not disclose the presidential results, SurveyUSA showed Joe Biden ahead 48-45 in an ancestrally Republican seat in inland San Diego County that backed Donald Trump 55-40 in 2016.

Issa, who infamously decided to run here two years after he retired as the congressman from the neighboring—and much bluer—49th District just ahead of the 2018 blue wave, is still favored to prevail here. Despite those numbers from SurveyUSA, it would be a big surprise if Trump lost a seat where Republicans have done well across the ballot for decades. Indeed, it was only two years ago that then-Rep. Duncan Hunter managed to fend off Campa-Najjar 52-48 even though Hunter was under indictment at the time for misusing campaign money.

Still, Campa-Najjar has the resources to run another strong campaign, and these polls give us a good reason to watch this contest.

1219

Rep. Duncan Hunter just pled guilty to a felony and will resign from Congress. The Islamophobic Trump stooge will soon be behind bars.

There’s only one problem: disgraced former congressman and billionaire conspiracy theorist Darrell Issa is running to take Hunter’s place.

Darrell Issa might be the one Republican who’s worse than Duncan Hunter -- but Issa just moved to this district, so voters don’t know him. And with his money, he might be able to buy this seat. We can’t let that happen.

no lnx

Rep] Darrel Issa, chair of the House Oversight Committee, has led the now 16-month old investigation into who knew what, and when, about an ill-advised gun interdiction scheme on the border called Fast and Furious.

The effort, says Mr. Issa, is to get answers for the family of Brian Terry, the Border Patrol agent shot and killed in a high desert shootout where guns belonging to the Fast and Furious gun-walking program were found.

But as Congress moves now to cite the attorney general of the United States, Eric Holder, for contempt, the situation has quickly become more intense, fueling a central and long-running conspiracy theory about Fast and Furious.

Along with conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh, Issa suggested as late as April that Fast and Furious may have been part of a policy by the White House to flood the Mexican market with guns to foment violence, which would then put political pressure back on the US to curb its wide-open border gun bazaar and weaken Second Amendment rights.

That contention, liberals say, is on its face absurd. Comedy Central satiristStephen Colbert summed up the extent of the alleged conspiracy on Friday, concluding Fast and Furious-spawned border violence was intended “to panic Americans in order to gin up support for a Draconian gun control measure Obama has never introduced. Complicated? Yes. The fevered ramblings of a syphilitic brain? Perhaps.”

But the “worse than Watergate” internet rumblings aside, last week’s Oversight Committee vote – which fell along partisan lines – to recommend Holder for a House vote on contempt and President Obama’s decision on the same day to invoke executive privilege to keep related documents secret did enliven debate about what’s really at stake with the investigation. To wit, whether the documents Congress wants and that the Administration won’t release may be able to confirm or put to rest suspicions that not just Holder, but Obama, had a policy hand in Fast and Furious.

In opening the contempt hearing on Wednesday, Mr. Issa contended that, “[The contempt hearing] is not about this investigation, it’s about a narrow subset of documents that this committee must ultimately receive.”

But in April, Issa gave an interview at the National Rifle Association convention in St. Louis, in which he gave credence to suspicions held by many conservatives and gun owners about the program’s true intent.

“Could it be that what they really were thinking of was in fact to use this walking of guns in order to promote an assault weapons ban?” Rep. Issa said. “Many think so. And [the administration] hasn’t come up with an explanation that would cause any of us not to agree.”

Loosely based on two similar operations that took place during the Bush administration, Fast and Furious began in 2009, shortly after administration officials, including Obama, several times cited in public a contested estimate that 90 percent of guns used in Mexican violence came from the US, a situation they said was wreaking havoc in Mexico and injuring relations between the two continental powers.

Around that time, the administration says, ATF agents in Phoenix, under pressure to stem the flow, began allowing straw purchasers to “walk” assault weapons into Mexico, in order to track the guns and build criminal cases against not just low-level drug operators, but cartel bosses.

But in the process, ATF lost track of 1,400 guns,some of which have been recovered at murder scenes in Mexico and two of which were found at the scene in Arizona where Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was gunned down by suspected drug smugglers.

To be sure, Holder, who has testified nine times about the program, has made some slips, including the fact that he told Congress he didn’t know about the program until after the death of Agent Terry, though it now seems clear that some of his direct reports may have had rudimentary knowledge of the program 10 months earlier.

Another event that piqued Republican interest came last year when Holder had to retract a letter sent to Congress on Feb. 4, 2011, which stated flatly that the ATF wasn’t allowing guns to walk. DOJ said it was relying on inaccurate field reports when it wrote that letter, and filled Congress in six months later when they could confirm and nail down the truth.

In the aftermath, both Holder and the President have acknowledged the gambit was a terrible idea, shouldn’t have happened, and won’t happen again. Though he contends he was never directly involved, Holder, as Obama’s top cop, has taken responsibility and apologized to the family of Agent Terry for his death. Meanwhile, half a dozen involved agents and officials have lost their jobs or been reassigned.

While tens of thousands of documents are in play, Congress say it wants to look specifically at a set of 1,300 documents, mostly emails, that investigators hope will shed light on who at Justice and the White House were directly involved. Holder has maintained that releasing some of the documents Congress wants could put cases and field agents in jeopardy.

At the least, the contents of the documents could fall short of conspiracy but still yield politically embarrassing information about how the administration crafted its response to the scandal, giving rise to charges that Republicans are on an irrational “fishing expedition” for political dirt.

“Though it’s not clear exactly what these documents may involve, it seems likely they consist of the Department of Justice’s reaction to the backlash against Fast and Furious,” writes Matthew DeLuca of the Daily Beast.

Given that most Americans “hold Congress in contempt,” as Duke University political scientist Michael Munger says, the President has portrayed the constitutional showdown as part of a running battle with obstinate Republicans, a situation he certainly elevated by stepping in to block the Congressional subpoena with executive privilege.

"The Republicans are succeeding in a strategy that they laid out for all of you at the beginning of last year," White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Friday. "They vowed to use their investigative powers to score political points against the administration and to further obstruct the President's legislative agenda."

Democrats on the Oversight Committee on Saturday filed a “minority view” to be included in next week’s scheduled contempt vote, noting specifically that, “The Committee’s investigation of ATF gunwalking operations has been characterized by a series of unfortunate and unsubstantiated allegations against the Obama Administration that turned out to be inaccurate.”

But while the political lines around Fast and Furious are thus clearly drawn, allusions to Watergate-sized conspiracy theories do, at the very least, also help bolster Issa’s central point: If only to quell such theories, Americans deserve to know whether it was really a hapless bureaucratic blunder or whether administration officials lied about the extent of their involvement in what became a deadly scandal.

What 'conspiracy' lies behind Eric :{Holder:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{and:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{'Fast:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{and:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}: :{Furious':(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline"):}:?

:{https://www.csmonitor.com:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;display:inline"):}::{/USA/Justice/2012/0623/What-conspiracy-lies-behind-Eric-Holder-and-Fast-and-Furious:(style="margin:0px;padding:0px;border:0px;font-style:inherit;font-variant:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-stretch:inherit;vertical-align:baseline;opacity:1;visibility:visible"):}:

Jun 23, 2012What 'conspiracy' lies behind Eric Holder and 'Fast and Furious'? ... desert shootout where guns belonging to the Fast and Furious gun-walking program were found. ... Mr. Issa contended that ...

1/19 wiki

Darrell Edward Issa (/:{ˈaɪsə:(style="border-bottom:1px dotted"):}:/; born November 1, 1953) is an American businessman and Republican politician. He served in the United States House of Representativesfrom 2001 to 2019, representing districts primarily covering north San Diego County, California. From January 2011 to January 2015, he served as Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa served as CEO of Directed Electronics, which he co-founded in 1982. It is currently^[when?] one of the largest makers of automobile aftermarket security and convenience products in the United States. Sporting a net worth of approximately 250 million dollars, Issa during his tenure was the wealthiest serving member of Congress.

Issa announced on January 10, 2018, that he would not seek reelection for his House seat.^[4] Democrat Mike Levin was elected on November 6, 2018 to become the district's next representative.^[5]

On September 19, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Issa to be Director of the United States Trade and Development Agency.^[6][7]

:{Issa:(style="font-weight:bold"):}: accuses US attorney of "political misconduct" over Duncan ...

CBS News-Aug 22, 2018

Retiring Rep. Darrell Issa, R-California, is accusing the U.S. attorney's office of "political misconduct" for indicting Rep. Duncan Hunter ...

realclear

Darrell Issa accused the Justice Department and FBI of purposefully "slow-walking" their responses to document requests from Congressional Republican Committee Chairs with the hope that Republicans will lose their majorities after the 2018 midterms.

"The reality is they are being slow-walked until after the election with the hopes the Democrats will take over the House or the Senate and then the investigations will be covered up," the California Republican said on Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures" with Maria Bartiromo.

"These chairmen are doing their jobs, Goodlatte, Nunes, and Gowdy," Issasaid. "But the reality is they are being slow-walked until after the election in the hopes that the Democrats will take over the House or the Senate and then the investigations will be covered up. No question in my mind that this would be something that would just go away if we lose the gavel."

MARIA BARTIROMO: And now with the investigation around the FBI's handling of the 2016 election, we're circling around this so-called "FBI Source" Kim Strassel at the Wall Street Journal wrote about this last week, and she asks, "Did the Bureau engage in outright spying against the 2016 Trump campaign?" in her op-ed.

...

already toast?

nuke:

booted in a coup?

Gregory Jaczko, Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear RegulatorGregory Jaczko recounted his time with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission,…booktv 1/19:{

}:https://www.c-span.org/video/?456771-1/confessions-rogue-nuclear-regulator

WASHINGTON -- Four pro-industry members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, along with Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), launched a public assault on the panel's chairman Friday, accusing him of mismanagement and heavy-handedness. Although the fight is framed by the commission members as personal, it is at root political and ideological, a dueling report put out Friday night by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) shows.

Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is a longtime proponent of reforming safety standards at nuclear power plants and was the first chair to win the seat without the support of the industry. The other four members were all strongly backed by the nuclear industry when they were nominated and confirmed.

In early December, the four other commission members wrote a letter to White House Chief of Staff William Daley accusing Jaczko of "increasingly problematic and erratic" behavior.

...

PR BS

Press Release

Jun 1, 2017

Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Vista), amember of the House Climate Soultions Caucus,released the following statement on the President's announcement that America will be leaving the Paris accord:

"Strong international partnerships are key to tackling this global problem and other countries must be held accountable. This isn't the path I would have chosen, I would have preferred the President work within the agreement to ensure other nations are doing their fair share. It's noteworthy the President instructed negotiations to begin immediately on re-entry or on crafting a better deal to ensure more equitable contributions from our partners around the world. Climate change is a global problem and it will require everyone - not just the United States leading alone - in order to solve it."

Rep. Darrell Issa's Saturday town hall, which you can watch all of above, was the second intense crowd the congressman has faced in as many days.

In a pop-up question-and-answer session on Friday outside his Vista office, Issa took many pointed questions, including ones about his vote for the Republican healthcare plan and President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement.

He faced many of the same topics at Saturday's well-attended town hall.

A nine-term congressman, Issa narrowly won re-election in November by a margin of about 1,600 votes out of more than 300,000 cast.

Next year’s race is being closely watched. Democrats have targeted the 49th District in hopes of flipping it in and Republicans are putting in extra money to keep Issa in office.

Some of Issa's 2018 opponents showed up at Friday's session.

180

http://www.salon.com/2017/02/28/darrell-issa-now-says-he-wont-commit-to-special-prosecutor-to-look-into-donald-trumps-russia-ties/

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes says he hasn’t found enough evidence of communications between President Trump’s associates and Russian officials to justify appointing a special prosecutor to investigate—even though there hasn’t been an investigation in order to obtain that evidence. Instead, Nunes is trying to shift focus onto the leaks coming out of the White House, calling them "major crimes." Nunes’ stance puts him at odds with other Republican lawmakers, including former House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Darrell Issa, who on Monday called for an independent review.

http://issaexposed.couragecampaign.org/

~ 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.

~ Here's the Union-Tribune article on Issa's earmark troubles that Kurt Bardella is so agitated about. The local media has never seriously questioned Darrell Issa's shady side, so even coverage noting that such a side exists is apparently grounds for outrage for Issa Enterprises.

...

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Putting the Issa Enterprises band back together to defend the boss

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.

excerpt, see below:

POLITICS: Issa staff has close ties to industry

Some raise concerns about panel's ability to be impartial

By Brooke Williams and Matt Pearce - Watchdog Institute | Posted: Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:52 pm

WASHINGTON ---- First as ranking minority member and now as chairman of one of the most powerful watchdog committees in Congress, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, has built a team that includes staff members with close connections to industries that could benefit from his investigations.

Issa took control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month, and asked companies, nonprofits and industry associations for guidance on federal regulations.

The committee has broad powers to subpoena and investigate government and industry.

His committee staff has issued findings sympathetic to industries bent on softening or eliminating certain regulations.

A preliminary report this month, for example, focused largely on Environmental Protection Agency standards and relied heavily on input from industry.

Some on Issa's team know the territory from the inside.

Several have ties to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who have made much of their fortune in oil and chemical businesses and have a reputation as staunch small-government conservatives.

Their influence through campaign contributions, lobbying and nonprofit groups ---- such as Americans for Prosperity, an activist organization with connections to the Tea Party movement ---- is legendary and has become more high-profile since the shift in power in the House of Representatives last November.

One oversight staffer listed as committee counsel is the son of a lobbyist pushing for regulatory changes on behalf of about two dozen big corporations.

At least four other staffers once lobbied Congress for companies and industry associations.

Another counsel worked for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which Issa recently asked for input on government regulations.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the incoming head of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has pledged to hold hearings on the "Politicization of Science," which will consist of a rehashing of the so-called ClimateGate "scandal." He's also called for greater oversight of the Environmental Protection Agency's coming regulations of greenhouse gases. With Issa in charge, the oversight committee will devote a good deal of time to hauling government and university climate scientists before Congress. mojo

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Darrell_Issa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa

Darrell Issa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Darrell Issa	Darrell Issa

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th district	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th district
Incumbent	Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2001	Assumed office January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Ron Packard

Born	November 1, 1953 (1953-11-01) (age 56) Cleveland, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kathy Issa
Children	William Issa
Residence	Vista, California
Alma mater	Kent State University Stark, Siena Heights College
Occupation	Electronics executive
Religion	Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Military service	Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1970-1980

Darrell Edward Issa (born November 1, 1953) is an American politician and formerly a CEO of Directed Electronics, the Vista, California based manufacturer of automobile security and convenience products. Since 2001, he has been a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, representing the 49th congressional district of California.^{[1]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-0) His district consists of portions of southern Riverside County and northern San Diego County. The district was numbered as the 48th District during his first term and was renumbered the 49th after the 2000 Census.

Aside from his service in Congress, Issa is also known for being a major contributor to the 2003 recall election of Governor Gray Davis, and a guest speaker at Republican events. His net worth has been estimated at more than $250 million, making him the "richest member of Congress".^{[2]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-CBS237-1)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-crp-2)^{3]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-crp-2)

[edit] Early life

Issa was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the grandson of Lebanese immigrants. He describes himself as having been "a rotten young kid."^{[4]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-3) Issa dropped out of high school^{[5]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-4) and at 17 enlisted for a three-year tour in the Army, serving as a bomb disposal technician. Issa further recounted being part of the security entourage for President Nixon during the 1971 World Series, despite Nixon never having attended the event. Issa left the Army nearly two years early after being stripped of his duties as a bomb specialist.^{[6]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-army_record-5)

A retired Army sergeant claimed that Issa stole a Dodge sedan from an Army post near Pittsburgh in 1971. The sergeant said he recovered the car after confronting and threatening him. Issa denied the allegation and no charges were filed.^{[7]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-sfgate_2003-6)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7)^{8]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7) In 1972, Issa and his brother allegedly stole a red Maserati sports car from a car dealership in Cleveland. He and his brother were indicted for car theft, but the case was dropped.^{[7]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-sfgate_2003-6)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7)^{8]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7) That same year, Issa was convicted in Michigan for possession of an unregistered gun. He received three months probation and paid a $204 fine.^{[9]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-sfgate_2003b-8)

He attended Kent State University at Stark in North Canton, Ohio and Siena Heights College in Adrian, Michigan, on an ROTC scholarship, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1976. Upon graduation, he was commissioned as an officer in the United States Army, serving as a tank platoon leader and a computer research and development specialist, among other command roles. He left the Army in 1980 with the rank of captain. He later moved to Vista, California, a suburb of San Diego, where he now lives.

On December 28, 1979, Issa and his brother allegedly faked the theft of Issa's Mercedes Benz sedan. Issa and his brother were charged for grand theft auto, but the case was dropped by prosecutors for lack of evidence. Later, Issa and his brother were charged for misdemeanors, but that case was not pursued by prosecutors. Issa accused his brother of stealing the car, and said that the experience with his brother was the reason he went into the car alarm business.^{[7]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-sfgate_2003-6)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7)^{8]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-nbcsandiego_2003-7)

A day after a court order was issued, giving Issa control of automotive alarm company A.C. Custom over an unpaid $60,000 debt, Issa allegedly carried a cardboard box containing a handgun into the office of A.C. Custom executive, Jack Frantz, and told Frantz he was fired. In a 1998 newspaper article, Frantz said Issa had invited him to hold the gun and claimed extensive knowledge of guns and explosives from his Army service. In response, Issa said, "Shots were never fired. ... I don't recall having a gun. I really don't. I don't think I ever pulled a gun on anyone in my life."^{[9]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-sfgate_2003b-8)

Issa made his fortune through his company, Directed Electronics Incorporated, that is most famous for its flagship product, the "Viper" car alarm. It bears a siren that is a recording of Issa's voice saying, "please step away from the car."^{[10]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-9) As of 2004, Directed Electronics was North America's largest aftermarket automotive electronics manufacturer. Issa divested personal interest in Directed Electronics after being elected to public office, but he is the richest member of the House and the second richest in all of the 111th Congress. He is worth an estimated $251 million.^{[3]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-crp-2)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-10)^{11]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-10)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-CBS237-1)^{2]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-CBS237-1)

[edit] Political career

[edit] First campaign

Issa's first campaign for elected office came in 1998, when he sought the Republican nomination for United States Senate to run against incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer. He backed the campaign with $12 million of his personal wealth, but lost the primary election to California State Treasurer Matt Fong. Fong's campaign raised $3 million from contributions and complained that Issa's wealth made for an uneven playing field (Issa had only $400,000 in contributions). An Issa spokesman countered that the money was needed to compensate for Fong's statewide name recognition.^{[12]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-11) Fong prevailed in the open primary by a margin of 22 percent to 20 percent for Issa. A San Francisco exit poll suggested that large numbers of Asian-Americans had crossed party lines to vote for Fong.^{[13]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-12)

[edit] House of Representatives

Two years after Issa's failed Senate bid, Congressman Ron Packard, a nine-term incumbent, announced his retirement. Issa capitalized on his name recognition from the 1998 Senate race, and won the Republican primary against State Senator Bill Morrow. This win was tantamount to election in the heavily Republican district. During his 2002 run for re-election, the Democrats failed to field a candidate, and his closest competition was from Libertarian Karl Dietrich. A write-in candidate from that election, Mike Byron, went on to become the Democratic challenger in 2004.^{[14]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-13)

Issa currently serves on the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, the House Judiciary Committee, and the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, of which he is the Ranking Member.

Issa mounted an unsuccessful campaign to join the ranks of the House GOP leadership hierarchy. He finished third of the four candidates vying for the chairmanship of the House Republican Policy Committee, and was ultimately passed over in favor of Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan.

Gubernatorial recall

Issa came to national prominence when he contributed over $1.6 million to help fund a signature-gathering drive for the petition to recall Gray Davis. At the time he made the contribution, it was widely believed that Issa intended to place himself on the ballot to replace Davis. However, following the entrance of fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger into the race, two days before the filing deadline, Issa announced that he would not run.^{[15]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-14) Issa later said that his mission had been accomplished since Davis was recalled and he wanted to continue representing his district in Congress and work towards Middle East peace.

For the recall election, Issa endorsed Schwarzenegger. However, at one point in the campaign he actually suggested that people should vote against recalling Davis, concerned that Schwarzenegger and fellow Republican Tom McClintock would split votes and install Democratic lieutenant governor Cruz Bustamante as Davis' successor.^{[16]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-15)

Middle East involvement

As one of the few Arab-Americans in Congress, Issa has had a significant but sometimes controversial role in U.S. peace initiatives in the Middle East. He traveled to Lebanon and Syria in an effort to negotiate the end of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon. In 2003, he appeared at a Washington rally by Iranian groups protesting against the Islamic government in Iran.^{[17]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-16)

Conservative political commentator Debbie Schlussel wrote a column calling him "Jihad Darrell", charging that he sympathized with Hezbollah despite its being listed by the U.S. government as a terrorist organization.^{[18]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-17) Issa denied this; he later speculated that Schlussel's column might have inspired an aborted Jewish Defense League plot in 2001 to bomb his district office in San Clemente.^{[19]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-BombTranscript-18)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-19)^{20]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-19) JDL leader Irving Rubin was arrested along with Earl Krugel in connection with the plot, which reportedly had focused on other targets before shifting to Issa's office.^{[21]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-20)

Issa voted "yes" for the use of military force in Iraq (2002)^{[22]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-21) and Afghanistan.

On June 16, 2006 he voted to reject setting timetables for withdrawal from Iraq and on December 14, 2005 he voted for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

On April 5, 2007, Issa met with Syrian president Bashar Assad to discuss Middle East issues, one day after Assad met with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.^{[23]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-22)

As of 2010^{[update]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Darrell_Issa&action=edit), Issa serves as a director of the American Task Force for Lebanon, a nonprofit organization working to advance Lebanon and its ties with the US.^{[24]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-23)

[edit] 2008 House election

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2008

In 2008, Issa defeated Democratic candidate Robert Hamilton, prevailing by a 20 point margin in a year that, on the whole, favored Democrats. He was widely expected to win the election, considering that the 49th district has a fairly high PVI rating of R+10.

In 2010, Project on Government Oversight, a government watchdog group, awarded Issa with its Good Government Award for his contributions to government oversight and transparency. These included publicizing documents produced by the New York Fed in response to a congressional subpoena, publicly exposing the New York Fed's secret "back-door bailout" of AIG's counterparties, and cofounding a Transparency Caucus dedicated to "promoting a more open and accountable government through education, legislation, and oversight."^{[25]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-24)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-25)^{26]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-25)

[edit] Political views

[](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rep._Darrell_Issa.jpg)

[](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rep._Darrell_Issa.jpg "Enlarge")

Darrell Issa

Issa has voted with the majority of House Republicans 94.7 percent of the time during the 111th Congress.^{[27]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-26) He has generally conservative political views.

He is generally opposed to abortion, but has supported stem cell research, saying that "The promise of stem cells to provide innovative treatments and cures warrants investment in more advanced research".^{[28]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-27) He voted for the authorization (and later reauthorization) of the PATRIOT Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.^{[29]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-VS-28)

He voted against the Employment Nondiscrimination Act (ENDA), which would have prohibited employers from discriminating on the basis of actual or perceived sexual orientation.^{[30]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-29)

He has opposed attempts to ease restrictions on illegal immigration such as the "Blue Card" system, saying that it provides amnesty for illegal immigrants.^{[31]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-30)

He supports efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emission, but also believes that "the science community does not agree to the extent of the problem or the critical threshold of when this problem is truly catastrophic."^{[32]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-31)

He has been critical of No Child Left Behind, supporting a modification that would, in his words, "give states the freedom to adopt best practices for their students by returning flexibility and control to the educators and parents who are the real experts on education".^{[33]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-32)

He has signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" of the Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases.^{[34]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-33)

[edit] Committee assignments

**Committee on Oversight and Government Reform** (Ranking Member)
- As Ranking Member of the full committee, Rep. Issa may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees

**Committee on the Judiciary**
- Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
- Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy

[edit] Criticism and controversy

[edit] Blackwater controversy

On February 7, 2007, four mothers, wives, and daughters of four Blackwater security guards killed in Fallujah, Iraq^{[35]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-34) testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearings on Iraq contractors. Issa made several statements construed as disparaging to the women and their motives for appearing: "I don't think your testimony today is particularly germane to the oversight of this committee" and "...the opening statement. Who wrote it?".^{[36]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-35)^[dead ^link]^{[37]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-36)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37)^{38]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37) The families had sued North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, the company that employed their relatives as security guards, to gain information about the circumstances surrounding the men’s deaths.^{[39]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-38)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-39)^{40]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-39) Congresswoman Janice Schakowsky of Illinois lambasted Issa saying, "I also wanted to take exception to questions about who wrote this, first of all, because I think clearly the implication was that somehow these wonderful women could not possibly have written that wonderful, heartfelt testimony and that it took a lawyer in order to put it together and I resent that very much."^{[38]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37)

[edit] 9/11 victims

In April 2008, Issa said that the federal government "just threw" buckets of cash at New York for the September 11, 2001 attacks "that had no dirty bomb in it, it had no chemical munitions in it." He went on: "I have to ask ... why the firefighters who went there and everybody in the city of New York needs to come to the federal government for the dollars versus this being primarily a state consideration."^{[41]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-40)

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who could become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee

"We can't look at it retrospectively, but we can look at it prospectively" in trying to stop the practice in the future, he said on ABC's "Top Line" webcast.

Earlier this year, Republicans pounced on the White House's admission that it offered Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) and former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff the possibility of taking low-level administration posts in exchange for them dropping out of their respective Senate primary races.

Sestak went on to win the nomination over Republican-turned-Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter (Pa.) but Romanoff lost to appointed Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who was backed by the White House.

As the Sestak story broke, Issa said it could be the President Obama's "Watergate," referring to the scandal that brought down President Nixon. After the White House issued its side of the story through its legal counsel, Republicans in Congress tried and failed to get more information about the offers.

Issa said as his panel looked into the incidents, he discovered presidents in both parties had done it. He called the practice "illegal" but said it had wrongly become a part of accepted political negotiations.

"When we were doing that investigation, we discovered the Bush administration had done that same thing by their own admission," he said, adding "I hope to work in a bipartisan basis to say that it has to stop."

POLITICS: Issa staff has close ties to industry

Some raise concerns about panel's ability to be impartial

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/sdcounty/article_6304e90f-5a96-51e3-ba59-0caf9deb26df.html

POLITICS: Issa staff has close ties to industry

Some raise concerns about panel's ability to be impartial

By Brooke Williams and Matt Pearce - Watchdog Institute | Posted: Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:52 pm

Issa took control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month, and asked companies, nonprofits and industry associations for guidance on federal regulations.

The committee has broad powers to subpoena and investigate government and industry.

His committee staff has issued findings sympathetic to industries bent on softening or eliminating certain regulations.

A preliminary report this month, for example, focused largely on Environmental Protection Agency standards and relied heavily on input from industry.

Some on Issa's team know the territory from the inside.

Several have ties to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who have made much of their fortune in oil and chemical businesses and have a reputation as staunch small-government conservatives.

One oversight staffer listed as committee counsel is the son of a lobbyist pushing for regulatory changes on behalf of about two dozen big corporations.

At least four other staffers once lobbied Congress for companies and industry associations.

Another counsel worked for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which Issa recently asked for input on government regulations.

Gary Bass, a regulatory expert who has monitored government transparency and spending for nearly three decades as founder of the nonprofit OMB Watch, said it's business as usual to see committee staffers close to subjects in their cross hairs ---- no matter the political party in charge.

But Bass said it's concerning that this staff has connections to the very industries Issa asked for input.

"What you're going to see are regulations that are tilted in favor of those interests," he said.

Frederick Hill, spokesman for Issa and the oversight committee, declined to answer questions about connections to lobbying and the Kochs.

"I only have a short comment for you on this subject," Hill wrote in an e-mail. "The committee makes all hiring decisions based on the ability of individuals to help the committee do its job."

Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan nonprofit that analyzes campaign finance and lobbying data, called for openness.

"If there is even a whiff of conflict of interest, it's important for them to be transparent and upfront about any interests that the committee or its staffers might have," he said.

Ties to industry

During the past five weeks, the Watchdog Institute, an independent nonprofit reporting center based at San Diego State University, examined a list of 66 Republican staff members working for the committee as of January.

Their work experience was viewed in light of Issa's high-profile investigative agenda.

The minority members of the oversight committee, who lack the majority's subpoena power, have not announced an agenda and largely have reacted to Issa's actions.

The Committee on House Administration released a list of more than 50 minority staffers on Feb. 22.

Many are longtime Hill staffers; some are former lobbyists.

The Institute's examination of the majority list showed many veteran Hill employees who had been with the committee before Issa's leadership.

In most cases, the Institute did not identify connections to companies or industries with a stake in oversight investigations.

However, of those hired after Issa took over as ranking Republican at the start of 2009, one person completed a Koch Associate Program with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and coordinated a regulatory studies program at the Mercatus Center, a think tank co-founded by a Koch Industries executive and heavily funded by Koch's foundation.

Another, Republican counsel Daniel Epstein, was at the Koch foundation and worked "together with Koch Industries Inc.'s assistant general counsel" before joining the committee, according to an interview with The Hill, a Washington, D.C.-based publication.

At least three more oversight staffers have ties to the Mercatus Center, which counts two Koch Industries executives on its board of directors, including Charles Koch.

Catherine Behan, spokeswoman for Mercatus, defended its independence.

"We don't do directed research," she said. "No one comes to us and says, 'We want to do a study on X.'"

In the past three years, Koch companies reported spending about $40.5 million lobbying on behalf of energy and manufacturing interests.

The companies lobbied significantly on Environmental Protection Agency regulations ---- which oversight committee staffers scrutinized in a recent report and which were the focus of many industry responses to Issa's solicitations for guidance on regulations.

A Koch Industries spokeswoman declined to be interviewed.

Koch Industries does not appear among the more than 150 letters Issa sent on his hunt for onerous government regulations, but it lobbied against some of the same laws many responses objected to.

A registered lobbyist ---- whose son, Jonathan Skladany, is Republican counsel on Issa's oversight team ---- also lobbied for companies on the same bills as Koch and some of the same regulations industries identified in their responses to the congressman.

Among his clients: Dow Chemical, Mortgage Insurance Companies of America and Volkswagen.

Worlds intersect

The Watchdog Institute examined Koch Industries' campaign contributions to members of the oversight committee and found it gave only to Republican committee members ---- at least $72,750 ---- in the past election.

Koch Industries began contributing to Issa's campaigns in 2008, and has given him at least $12,500.

Levinthal, of the Center for Responsive Politics, said the Kochs "have a portfolio filled with ways to influence the government."

"The committee at the end of the day may be more reflective of the interests that the company and its executives espouse," he said.

In a Feb. 9 report, oversight staff explained the committee is "uniquely positioned" to examine "barriers that stand in the way of job growth and economic recovery" and recommended "additional scrutiny" of certain regulations, including EPA standards.

As the committee acts, inside and outside worlds intersect.

Oversight committee counsel Kristina Moore worked in the same office as an auto alliance executive whom oversight staff interviewed about EPA standards for its report.

Moreover, industry associations that count Koch companies as members provided staff with input on EPA rules.

Last year, as ranking minority member of the oversight committee, Issa was one of many on the committee to co-sponsor legislation ---- lobbied on by Koch Industries ---- opposing a decision from the EPA that would greatly expand the agency's authority to regulate air pollution.

Think tank ties?

In February 2009, after Issa became ranking Republican, he approved a trip to a Mercatus-funded retreat for his committee staff director to "provide in-depth briefings on issues of relevance to oversight investigations."

That month, the committee brought on two alumni of Mercatus; it would hire at least two more within two years.

Based at George Mason University, Mercatus' activities overlap with the commercial and ideological interests of Charles Koch, CEO and chairman of Koch Industries.

The company's vice president co-founded Mercatus.

Mercatus' research policy states that "Mercatus financial supporters have absolutely no influence or control" over its work, and Behan said Koch executives on the board have no influence either.

Issa asked the Mercatus Center for regulatory advice in his recent solicitation blitz, and it outlined ways that government regulations can hurt the economy.

Several Mercatus scholars testified before the committee this month.

Bass, from OMB Watch, said industry influence on the committee should concern the public because "Almost every walk of our life, every step of our life, can be in one way or another can be traced back to some kind of federal protection."

The Watchdog Institute, a nonprofit based at San Diego State University, produces in-depth reports and partners with media organizations across Southern California, including the North County Times.

2/27/11 see also http://www.publicintegrity.org/articles/entry/2946/

Between Feb. 9 and Feb. 17, four Mercatus scholars testified at oversight committee and subcommittee hearings, including Veronique de Rugy, who was scheduled to speak at an exclusive Koch Industries conference in Aspen in June.

Koch Industries hosted another exclusive conference last month in Palm Springs — a semi annual event to discuss “strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it.”

Two Mercatus scholars, as well as FOX News’ Glenn Beck and the Wall Street Journal’s Stephen Moore, were on the agenda of speakers at the Aspen conference.

===

promoted to evil 6/14 for going after aaron swartz (actually didn't, but post-humous? same as diss raids on rx pot?)

6/16 primary v dem only 51%

$ or just ideology?

http://timesofsandiego.com/politics/2016/06/03/issa-federal-government-should-use-uber-lyft/

http://www.salon.com/2014/12/11/good_riddance_darrell_issa_a_wasteful_blowhards_humiliating_history/

DEC 11, 2014

Good riddance, Darrell Issa: A wasteful blowhard's humiliating history

“We need to be investigated by someone who wants to kill us just to watch us die. We need someone perceived by the American people to be irresponsible, untrustworthy, partisan, ambitious, and thirsty for the limelight. Am I crazy, or is this not a job for the U. S. House of Representatives?”

– CJ Craig

In four years at the helm of the House of Representative’s primary investigative body, Darrell Issa launched major investigations into the 2012 attack in Benghazi, the IRS’s alleged targeting of conservative organizations, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms’ failed “Fast and Furious” operation, the bankruptcy of solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, and the launch of Healthcare.gov. In pursuit of these scandals he was granted abudget of $25,678,100.

This figure does not account for the $14 million spent by the IRS answering voluminous and often duplicative subpoenas, the “millions” spent by the Department of Defense responding to inquiries about the attack in Benghazi, the budget of the Oversight Committee’s minority staff, nor the massive expenditure of resources by the dozens of other federal agencies that have come under the scrutiny of the Oversight Committee. By its conclusion Darrell Issa’s chairmanship could cost the U.S. Treasury well into the nine figures.From that astounding allocation of resources, Issa has unveiled no major corruption or gotten to the bottom of no significant scandal.

By mistaking bureaucratic incompetence for scandal, ineptitude for criminality, and general stupidity on the part of low- and mid-level government employees for political conspiracy, Issa all but guarantees that only the most fervent partisans will trust any information that emerges from his committee. In that way he is perhaps the best Oversight chairman a Democratic administration could hope for — one whose investigations can simply be disregarded as partisan witch hunts and whose influence waned with each misstep.

In an October 2011 profile, Issa described himself to Susan Davis of National Journal as “a salesman,” claiming, “what I’m selling is the awareness of a product.” Yet his principal product has been well-packaged, media-friendly and almost always phony scandals.

In January, with Darrell Issa term-limited out of his chairmanship, Jason Chaffetz, a Utah representative elected in 2008, will take the helm of the Oversight Committee.

At his final full committee hearing on Dec. 9, Issa harangued MIT professor Jonathan Gruber, whose comments regarding the administration’s truthfulness in the creation of Obamacare spawned the latest conservative mini-scandal. “Are you stupid?” Issa asked the witness, citing the film Forrest Gump in his question.

This moment perfectly summed up Issa. A made-for-TV sound bite surely to elicit a chorus of guffaws from conservatives while the hearing itself was short on substance or outcomes.

All indications are Chaffetz will continue to follow the dangerous precedents set by Issa, continue to fail in carrying out one of the House of Representatives’ most important constitutional prerogatives.

* * *

During the 2010 campaign Darrell Issa’s reputation was cemented on both the left and right. To Republicans, he was exactly the aggressive partisan cop they wanted on the beat. During their time in the minority, Republicans thought Congress was neglecting numerous investigations, including the “crony capitalism” exposed by the bankruptcy of solar panel manufacturerSolyndra, the Justice Department’s purported inaction against the New Black Panthers for attempting to intimidate white voters, and Barack Obama’s ties to the community-organizing group ACORN.

To Democrats, Issa symbolized everything that was wrong with the way conservatives wielded power when in the majority. His chairmanship would mark a return to days of an investigative process marred by partisanship, acrimony and lack of any significant accomplishments.A week before the election, he confirmed this perception on Rush Limbaugh’s radio show, calling Obama “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.”

In the immediate aftermath of the Republican Party’s 2010 victory Darrell Issa attempted to prove he was not the radical and bombastic figure Democrats portrayed by unveiling a list of investigations that eschewed right-wing paranoia for reasonable oversight targets, which included, according to theWashington Post, “release of classified diplomatic cables by Wikileaks; recalls at the Food and Drug Administration; the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis; the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission’s failure to identify the origins of the meltdown; as well as business regulations and alleged corruption in Afghanistan.”

But Issa could not resist the pull of fringe right-wing conspiracy theories that would satiate a conservative media and Republican base crying for blood.Instead of seriously pursuing the investigations laid out in the Washington Post, he would dig for evidence that the Obama administration was the embodiment of conservative fantasies.

Attempting to moderate his rhetoric, Issa set the following metric during an interview with Wolf Blitzer: “Our committee is supposed to be about … creating reform, making government do its job, and do it within a smaller budget, not a larger budget.”

If that is the bar by which to judge Darrell Issa on, he has clearly failed.

* * *

Issa’s dogged desire to investigate the executive branch is a recent development for the chairman. During the Bush administration, the California congressman used his perch to obstruct investigations, defend unethical acts, and attack those who dared to accuse a Republican White House of wrongdoing.

A major scandal erupted in late 2006 over accusations that the White House improperly fired several U.S. attorneys — some of whom were allegedly dismissed for failing to prosecute politically motivated voter-fraud cases against Democrats. Congressional requests for information from the White House were complicated by the Bush administration’s practice of using parallel sets of email servers – one inside the federal government and a second housed at the Republican National Committee. White House adviser Karl Rove, who was at the center of the U.S. attorney scandal, professing convenience, used his nongovernment emailaddress for 95 percent of his communications.

When investigators found Rove’s deputy at the White House, J. Scott Jennings, had used his account provided by the Republican National Committee to discuss the firing of Bud Cummins, a U.S. attorney in Arkansas, they sought more records. However, as many as 22 million emails disappeared from the RNC’s servers.

Issa chalked up the loss of the emails to the GOP’s use of outdated software such as Lotus Notes, implying the entire investigation was a waste of money. “Are we simply going on a fishing expedition at $40,000 to $50,000 a month?” he asked.

Going a step further, he compared the behavior of Democrats on the committee to that of sexual deviants: “Well, if the chairman thinks that he should have Karl Rove’s every thinking, including correspondence with a wife or a girlfriend or an old buddy, because it was done at the RNC and not official work — sort of this voyeur, peeping tom that you’re entitled to everything.”

Fast-forward to 2014. During his investigation of the IRS’s targeting of conservative groups, Republicans led by Darrell Issa focused their inquiry on the head of the agency’s exempt division, Lois Lerner. As part of its investigation the committee demanded her email correspondents over a number of years, which were provided by the Treasury Department, save for a batch of 30,000 emails from 2009–2011 after her hard drive purportedly crashed.

Lerner asserted her Fifth Amendments rights not to testify before the committee, which resulted in the House of Representatives declaring her in contempt of Congress. When it came to the missing emails, whereas during the Bush years, computer errors were an acceptable reason for error, in the Obama administration lost emails were evidence of criminality. In a sharply worded letter to IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, “Congress passed the Federal Records Act (FRA) to preserve key documents — such as those that were stored on Lerner’s hard drive — for production to congressional investigators and other stakeholders, including historians and FOIA requesters.” Issa continued, “The FRA requires agencies to make and preserve records of agency decisions, policies, and essential transactions, and to take steps to safeguard against the loss of agency records.” This was a marked difference from his stance on lost emails during the Bush years.

* * *

At least some of Issa’s success can be attributed to this successful hacking of media culture, mastering a methodology for maximizing control over the narrative surrounding his committee’s investigations, transforming members of the press into co-conspirators.

The playbook is simple. First pick a favored reporter or reporters, and grant them access to information unearthed by committee investigators in the form of out-of-context statements from closed-door interviews conducted by committee staff. This has led to a number of corrections, updates and errors that have been made by outlets including the New York Times, CBS and the Washington Post.

In May 2013, as his committee geared up for testimony from Benghazi whistle-blower Greg Hicks, Issa’s staff leaked out-of-context excerpts of his interviews with the committee implying Cheryl Mills, Hillary Clinton’s chief of staff, had “yelled” at Hicks after he spoke with Jason Chaffetz during an investigative trip to Libya. The accusation was clear: Senior members of Hillary Clinton’s staff — maybe even the secretary of state herself — were trying to intimidate dissenters in the State Department into silence after speaking with members of Congress. CBS News picked up the story and ran it under the headline “Could Benghazi impact Hillary Clinton in 2016?” Ranking member Elijah Cummings pointed out the shortcomings in the network’s story in a May 2013 letter to Issa, writing, “Mr. Hicks never made this allegation, either at the hearing or before it during his interview.”

ARI RABIN-HAVT is host of The Agenda, a national radio show airing Monday through Friday on SiriusXM. His writing has appeared in USA Today, The New Republic, Salon, and The American Prospect, and he has made appearances on MSNBC, CNBC, Al Jazeera, and HuffPost Live. He previously served as executive vice president of Media Matters for America and as an advisor to Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid and former vice president Al Gore.

Rep. Darrell Issa definitely still holds a grudge after House leaders stripped him of his unending Benghazi investigationin favor of a House Select Committee of People Who Are Not Darrell Issa. Now he's trying to crash their closed-door meetings.

Issa marched into the closed-door deposition and remained inside for about a minute before he was escorted out by the panel’s chairman, Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.).

The pair briefly exchanged hushed words in a nearby hallway before Issa stormed off, throwing an empty soda can into a nearby trash bin.

Ouch. Yeah, he's still sore.

For the record, the meeting he tried to crash was a closed-door deposition by longtime Hillary Clinton adviser Sydney Blumenthal, who no doubt was intimately involved in something-something Hillary Clinton's fault. So you can see why Issa is so peeved he's not allowed to listen in on this key testimony.

===

IRS witchunt

Rep. Elijah Cummings exploded at Rep. Darrell Issa for providing Fox News with emails that was not shared with the rest of the House Oversight Committee.Media Matters has obtained the emails, which indicate that the story told on Fox News was very misleading:http://mm4a.org/1kyJCCT Related: Issa later admitted the IRS investigation is at a dead end:http://mm4a.org/MOSC7E A Fox anchor blames an IRS official for death threats she is receiving: http://mm4a.org/1gatgZU

anti ACA road show does not allow supporters to speak, told Tx official he need to watch fox

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/issas-road-trip-reaches-texas

Issa trying to privatize the PO (have to fund pension 75 years when no other biz or agency has to; also ALEC?

Kurt Bardella, who had been serving as Breitbart's spokesman, has parted ways with the company, he said in an interview.

Breitbart was a client of Bardella and his communications shop, Endeavor Strategies. His departure comes after a tumultuous three days that which saw Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields accuse Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of strong-arming her as she tried to ask Trump a question following a news conference Tuesday night.

Following the incident, Breitbart sent out statements saying it was 100 percent behind its reporter and calling on Lewandowski to apologize, while also publishing posts that seemed to question Fields' account of what happened. "I resigned," said Bardella, who was formerly a long-time aideto Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.). "I reached the point where I couldn’t do 100 percent of my ability to represent them both for them and me, and when you reach that point, it is time to move on." Without elaborating on what happened over the past few days, Bardella said Breitbart took the news well and that they had a "positive conversation."

"I reached a point where I was in an untenable position. For me it’s OK. I need to move on," he said.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/03/breitbart-spokesperson-parts-ways-with-website-220645#ixzz4AvSHR6P3

Posted on Mon, Dec. 20, 2010

Commentary: A GOP power grab is resurrected for 2012

Dan Morain | The Sacramento Bee

last updated: December 27, 2010 02:47:36 PM

As President Barack Obama and his advisers prepare for the 2012 campaign, they assume he already has won California.

Given the Democrats' domination here, Obama is all but assured of winning the popular vote as he did in 2008 and, by extension, the richest-in-the-nation trove of electoral votes. But that would be under the current winner-take-all rules.

Ted Costa has a different idea. Costa is the Sacramento political provocateur who controls the People's Advocate operation and mailing list built by his mentor, Paul Gann, the other half of the Howard Jarvis-Gann initiative team that brought us Proposition 13.

With no fanfare, Costa last week submitted to the attorney general's office an initiative he calls the "Electoral College Reform Act." On its face, the populist proposal would play to voters' sense of fairness and desire for competition among candidates.

In reality, this initiative would be a Republican power grab with national implications.

The change contemplated by Costa and other consultants could push a Republican to victory in a close presidential race.

"It is the kind of thing that puts the metal to the grindstone and sparks fly," Costa told me.

Under the proposal, California's 55 electoral votes no longer would go to whoever wins the popular vote. Rather, they'd be apportioned based on the candidate who wins in particular congressional districts.

There's the rub.

The GOP may be endangered in California. But Republicans hold 20 of the state's 53 congressional seats. If Costa's measure were to become law, any Republican presidential nominee who could breathe and speak at the same time would win 20 electoral votes, the equivalent of winning Ohio.

To be sure, anyone with the $200 filing fee and an idea, no matter how bad, can ask the attorney general for an initial review. Most measures die at this first stage, mercifully sparing voters from having to decipher the trickery imbedded in their legalese.

Costa, who operates from a musty office in an aging strip mall on Arden Way, has plenty of experience in the big business of direct democracy, and an uneven record of success. Slicker operators have snatched ideas from him in the past. In this instance, Costa has seized on someone else's idea.

In 2007, Sacramento attorney Thomas Hiltachk, whose firm represents the California Republican Party, wrote a virtually identical initiative and joined GOP strategist Marty Wilson, who managed Carly Fiorina's U.S. Senate run this year, in an effort to place it on the June 2008 ballot.

It didn't work out well. Unable to raise much money and facing fierce opposition from Democrats – and some Republicans who disliked the gimmicky nature of it all – Wilson dropped it.

In stepped a Republican consultantDave Gilliard. Gilliard's clients include Rep. Darrell Issa, the Vista Republican said to be the wealthiest member of Congress.

Issa has dug deep in the past, spending $10 million on a failed run for the U.S. Senate in 1998, and $1.6 million on the 2003 recall and his aborted run to replace Gov. Gray Davis.

Gilliard said he has not broached the Electoral College initiative idea with Issa, who is busy figuring out who and what to investigate as incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee. But in 2007, Issa kicked in $91,000 to help qualify the measure. Even though Gilliard raised $1.3 million, the petition drive fell short.

Like Wilson, Gilliard laments what might have been. Both men are considering rekindling the measure. There's nothing to stop them from big-footing Costa and moving ahead with Electoral College "reform" for the June 2012 ballot.

"I'm involved in some discussions about reviving it," Gilliard told me. "The key is getting donors excited that California can be relevant."

Democrats have noticed the chatter that Costa's measure is generating. San Francisco strategist Chris Lehane, a former Clinton White House aide, led the effort to derail the 2007 version. Calling it the "Freddy Krueger" of initiatives, Lehane is preparing a new battle against this Democratic nightmare.

trying to privatize the PO (have to fund pension 75 years when no other biz or agency has to;

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/06/26/1219172/-Here-s-how-Darrell-Issa-manufactured-the-IRS-scandal#

WED JUN 26, 2013 AT 11:58 AM PDT

Here's how Darrell Issa manufactured the IRS 'scandal'

On Monday, we learned that the IRS didn't single out tea party groups after all. Instead, they were looking for political groups, including not just tea party groups, but progressive groups as well. They may have used a flawed method for flagging the groups, but the IRS's intent was clear: to identify political groups that were not legally entitled to receive the tax-exempt benefit they sought to receive.

That pretty much brought the IRS "scandal" to a screeching halt. In the hours following the revelation, Darrell Issa's Twitter feed suddenly started spamming tweets about Benghazi. "Change the subject, quickly!" he seemed to be saying.

But there's still a question to be answered. If the IRS was targeting political groups from across the ideological spectrum, where did the original narrative about tea party targeting come from? The answer makes Darrell Issa and his fellow House Republicans look even worse than they did on Monday:

The Treasury inspector general (IG) whose report helped drive the IRS targeting controversy says it limited its examination to conservative groups because of a request from House Republicans.

A spokesman for Russell George, Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, said they were asked by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) “to narrowly focus on Tea Party organizations.”

Obviously, if Issa wanted a comprehensive investigation, he should have asked for a review of all politically oriented scrutiny. Instead, he asked for exclusive focus on tea party and conservative groups. Under the most charitable interpretation of this, it never occurred to Darrell Issa that anyone other than the tea party groups could have been targeted. If that's true, it suggests he just doesn't care about whether the IRS "targets" anyone other than his political allies.

But I think the most likely explanation here is that Issa was simply trying to cook up a scandal, even though it did nothing to address the genuine problems with the way campaign finance and tax laws are written. He probably figured that in the best case scenario, he'd be able to get away with his fraud. And in the worst case scenario, he'd get a slap on the wrist from a few reporters, but endless approval from his political supporters. It's exactly the kind of thing you'd expect from Mr. Grand Theft Auto.

fortune mag; How Fast and Furious reached the headlines is a strange and unsettling saga, one that reveals a lot about politics and media today. It's a story that starts with a grudge, specifically Dodson's anger at Voth. After the terrible murder of agent Terry, Dodson made complaints that were then amplified, first by right-wing bloggers, then by CBS. Rep. Issa and other politicians then seized those elements to score points against the Obama administration, which, for its part, has capitulated in an apparent effort to avoid a rhetorical battle over gun control in the run-up to the presidential election. (A Justice Department spokesperson denies this and asserts that the department is not drawing conclusions until the inspector general's report is submitted.)

===

By Brooke Williams and Matt Pearce

Watchdog Institute

WASHINGTON -- First as ranking minority member and now as chairman of one of the most powerful committees in Congress, San Diego Republican Darrell Issa has built a team that includes staff members with close connections to industries that could benefit from his investigations.

Issa took control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month, and asked companies, nonprofits and industry associations for guidance on federal regulations. The committee, which includes 23 Republicans and 17 Democrats, has broad powers to investigate government and industry, and to issue subpoenas.

Issa's staff already has released findings sympathetic to industries bent on softening oreliminating certain government regulations. A preliminary report this month, for example, focused largely on Environmental Protection Agency standards and relied heavily on input from industry associations. Other standards the committee is targeting include new regulations on workplace safety and the financial services industry.

And some on Issa's staffknow this territory from the inside.

Several have ties to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who have made much of their fortune in oil and chemical businesses and have established a reputation as staunch small-government conservatives. Their influence through campaign contributions, lobbying and nonprofit groups--such as Americans for Prosperity, an activist organization with connections to the Tea Party movement--has become more pronounced since the shift in power in the House last November.

A Republican staff counsel for the oversight committee is the son of a lobbyist pushing for regulatory changes on behalf of big corporations. At least four other staffers once lobbied Congress for companies and industry associations. Another counsel worked for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which Issa recently asked for input on government regulations.

Gary Bass, a regulatory expert who has monitored government transparency and spending for nearly three decades as founder of the nonprofit, OMB Watch, said it's business-as-usual to see Congressional committees staffed with people close to entities they monitor -- no matter which political party is in charge.

But Bass said that Issa has gone a step further by actively soliciting input from the business community, making the connection of his staff to those same business all the more troubling.

"What you're going to see are regulations that are tilted in favor of those interests," he said.

Frederick Hill, spokesman for Issa and the oversight committee, declined to answer questions about the staff's connections to lobbyists, business interests, the Koch companies, foundation or nonprofits.

"I only have a short comment for you on this subject," Hill wrote in an e-mail. "The Committee makes all hiring decisions based on the ability of individuals to help the committee do its job."

Issa declined to be interviewed for this article, as did representatives of Koch Industries, the conglomerate that the Koch brothers control.

Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan nonprofit that analyzes campaign finance and lobbying data, said that Issa's oversight committee needs to operate openly and to publicly disclose any potential conflicts.

"If there is even a whiff of conflict of interest, it's important for them to be transparent and upfront about any interests that the committee or its staffers might have," he said.

****

In mid-January, the Watchdog Institute, an independent nonprofit reporting center based at San Diego State University, obtained a list from majority spokesman Hill of 62 Republican committee employees in order to examine their work experience in light of Issa's ambitious investigative agenda.

The Institute also sought a list of Democratic staffers and contacted minority spokeswoman Jenny Rosenberg 11 times to obtain it. She only released the name of Staff Director David Rapallo.

The Committee on House Administration, which oversees the day-to-day operations of the House, released a list on Feb. 22 of all committee staff as of January, including more than 50 with the minority.

The Institute applied the same research standards to majority and minority staff members. Because the Democrats, however, haven't outlined an agenda akin to Issa's - aside from Friday's announcement to examine possible fraud in the mortgage industry - there wasn't a similar benchmark for the Institute to use to assess the backgrounds and corporate connections of the minority's staff.

Many among the minority are longtime Hill staffers. Some worked for government agencies, nonprofits or law firms. Others are former lobbyists with connections to labor, energy and the petroleum and chemical industries.

On the Republican side, more than three-quarters of the staffers have been hired since Issa took over as ranking member of the committee at the beginning of 2009. In most cases, the Institute did not identify connections to companies or industries with a stake in oversight investigations.

Among those that do have connections, some have ties to the Kochs.

One person completed a Koch Associate Program with the**Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation**and coordinated a regulatory studies program at the**Mercatus Center**. The center, a think tank heavily funded by Koch and co-founded by Richard Fink, the executive vice president of Koch Industries, has a long history of advocating against government regulations.

Another staffer, Daniel Epstein, was at the Koch foundation and worked "together with Koch Industries Inc.'s assistant general counsel" before joining the committee as Republican counsel, according to a statement attributed to him in***The Hill***((/)), a trade publication that covers Congress. Epstein did not respond to interview requests.

At least three more oversight staffers also have ties to the Mercatus Center, which counts two**Koch Industries**executives on its board of directors, including Charles Koch, the chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries.

Catherine Behan, spokeswoman for Mercatus, defended its independence, saying that its research is not guided or influenced by any outside business interests.

"We don't do directed research," she said. "No one comes to us and says 'we want to do a study on X.'"

In the past three years, Koch companies reported spending about $40.5 million lobbying on behalf of energy and manufacturing interests. The companies lobbied significantly on Environmental Protection Agency regulations--which oversight committee staffers scrutinized in a recent report and were thefocus of many industry responses to Issa's solicitations for guidance on regulations.

Koch Industries does not appear among the more than 150 letters Issa sent to businesses soliciting their input about onerous government regulations. But Koch Industries has lobbied against some of the same laws that many businesses said they objected to when they responded to Issa's solicitation.

A lobbyist named Barney Skladany Jr. -- whose son, Jonathan Skladany, is Republican counsel on Issa's oversight team -- also lobbied Congress on environmental regulations that industries identified as onerous in their responses to Issa's request. Among Skladany Jr.'s clients: Dow Chemical, Mortgage Insurance Companies of America and Volkswagen. Jonathan Skladany declined to comment, and his father did not respond to an interview request.

***

Because of the oversight staff's connections to Koch Industries, the Watchdog Institute also examined Koch's campaign contributions to members of the oversight committee. Koch Industries has given more than $130,000 to sitting committee members since 2000, mostly to Republicans.

Current Republican committee members received at least $72,750 from Koch Industries in the last election. Most are freshman, who received at least $42,750.

Koch Industries began contributing to Issa's campaigns in 2008 and has given him at least $12,500.

Levinthal, of the Center for Responsive Politics, said the Koch brothers "have a portfolio filled with ways to influence the government."

"The committee at the end of the day may be more reflective of the interests that the company and its executives espouse," he said.

The oversight committee has made headlines consistently since Issa took charge, holding several hearings and issuing its first subpoena almost two weeks ago. (2-16-11) It also released responses from industries on its website.

In a Feb. 9 report, oversight staff explained that the committee is "uniquely positioned" to examine "barriers that stand in the way of job growth and economic recovery," saying the point is to "get Americans back to work."

The report recommended "additional scrutiny" of certain regulations, including EPA standards. The industry associations that provided the staff with input included at least two that count Koch companies as members.

Last year, as ranking minority member of the oversight committee, Issa was one of many committee members to cosponsor legislation -- lobbied on by Koch Industries -- opposing a decision from the EPA that would greatly expand the agency's authority to regulate air pollution.

Other interests also intersect on the oversight committee.

For example, an oversight committee counsel, Kristina Moore worked in the same office as Shane Karr, an auto alliance executive whom oversight staff interviewed for its report.

Moore did not respond to an interview request. A spokesman for the auto alliance said Karr declined to be interviewed.

***

In February 2009, after Issa became the ranking Republican, he approved a trip to a Mercatus-funded retreat for his committee staff director, Larry Brady.

On his disclosure form, Brady, who did not respond to an interview request, cited the purpose of the trip: "Provide in-depth briefings on issues of relevance to oversight investigations."

That same month, the oversight committee brought on two alumni of the Mercatus Center as staffers -- including Moore, who returned to the committee after a brief stint at the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The committee later hired at least two more Mercatus alumni.

Based at George Mason University in Virginia, Mercatus' activities overlap with the commercial and ideological interests of Charles Koch.

Mercatus received at least $7.6 million from the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation between 2006 and 2008, according to the most recent tax filings available online. The foundation did not return phone calls.

Mercatus' research policy states that "Mercatus financial supporters have absolutely no influence or control" over its work, and Behan said the Koch executives on the board have no influence either.[sons of w sez hands-on]

Still, Issa asked the Mercatus Center for regulatory advice in his recent solicitation blitz. In response, Mercatus outlined ways government regulations can hurt the economy.

Koch Industries hosted another exclusive conference last month in Palm Springs--a semi annual event to discuss "strategies for combating the multitude of public policies that threaten to destroy America as we know it."

Two Mercatus scholars, as well as FOX News' Glenn Beck and the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore, were on the agenda of speakers at the Aspen conference.

Tyler Grimm, a new oversight committee staffer, contributed to Beck's book "Arguing With Idiots," and was a research assistant for Moore, an economic columnist.

Grimm did not respond to interview requests. Beck's spokesman said he was not available for an interview.

Moore said Grimm was "a good economist" and a good fit for the oversight committee's staff. Moore also said he thought highly of Mercatus' work.

"I think they've got some of the best economists in the country and that they're fair and balanced," he said.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/28/darrell-issa-team_n_829046.html

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/02/28/2109/issa-oversight-committee-staffs-industry-insiders

incubator:

Tyler Grim is a law student at George Mason University School of Law. He is also a senior professional staff member for the US House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Prior to joining the committee, Tyler was the policy director at Public Notice and the research assistant to the senior economics writer at the Wall Street Journal. He earned his BA in government and international politics from George Mason University, where he was a member of GMU's policy debate team. Tyler also spent a semester at Oxford University where he studied contemporary political thought. He was a Frédéric Bastiat Fellow for the 2014-2015 academic year.

Let's Take the GOP's Zombie ACORN Probe Completely Seriously

The community organizing collective ACORN may be disbanded but that doesn't mean Republicans are finished crusading against its former employees and tying them to the left-wing-tinged Occupy Wall Street movement. On Monday, House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa called for an investigation into New York Communities for Change, a group that works out of ACORN's former Brooklyn offices and is staffed by many of its former employees, for engaging "in fraud through its participation in the Occupy Wall Street protests." The basic ingredients of Occupy Wall Street, ACORN and fraud make for an intoxicating cocktail of right-wing preoccupations not likely to wear off. So let's begin by taking the allegations completely and utterly seriously.

The critical allegations against New York Communities for Change (NYCC), according to Issa's letter [PDF] to the U.S. attorney general in New York, are that it "solicited donations from union members under false pretenses and misappropriated those funds to support the protesters" of Occupy Wall Street. The allegations stem from a Fox News report published on October 26 citing anonymous sources working at NYCC accusing the organization of collecting cash donations for a United Federation of Teachers fundraising drive and giving the money to Occupy Wall Street.

Sources who participated in the teachers union campaign said NYCC supervisors gave them the addresses of union members and told them to go knock on their doors and ask for contributions—and did not mention that the money would go toward Occupy Wall Street expenses. One source said the campaign raked in about $5,000. ...

Sources said staff members also collected door-to-door for NYCC’s PCB campaign — which aims to test schools for deadly toxins —but then pooled that money together with cash raised for the teachers union and other campaigns to fund Occupy Wall Street.

Citing the Fox News report in his letter to the U.S. attorney general, Issamakes two primary allegations: 1) NYCC, a community organizing nonprofit, is funneling money to Occupy Wall Street 2) It's telling donors the money is actually going to a United Federation of Teachers fundraising drive.

NYCC denies both allegations. “We have never given any money to Occupy Wall Street,” said Jon Kest, the executive director of NYCC, to Politico's Ben Smith on Monday. “It’s just absurd.”

But what if Kest is lying? If money raised by NYCC is traced to Occupy Wall Street, could that be considered a crime or misdemeanor?

Not likely.

In the state of New York, groups that want to raise money such as NYCC need to register with the Attorney General's Charities Bureau, a spokesperson at the attorney general's office in New York said. Upon registration, the group must explain how it will use its funds in a type of mission statement. If it wants to donate to outside groups, that must be disclosed and the outside groups must at least be vaguely aligned with the group's mission statement. Otherwise, it's a violation of New York state charities law. So does NYCC's registered mission statement jive with a donation to Occupy Wall Street? Fortunately, for NYCC, it does. Even if Kest is lying about where his group sends its money, a donation to Occupy Wall Street (a movement that deals with economic and social justice) would probably fall within NYCC's mission statement. Here's NYCC's registration documents and mission statement, available for viewing at the attorney general's charities database.

The undertones of social welfare and economic justice sound awfully familiar to what a sign might read at an Occupy Wall Street protest. So it's not a tough sell to say the two group's interests are aligned. But what about the second allegation: that NYCC employees "lied about how the money would be used"?

According to Fox News sources, the lying was recurrent. “We go to Freeport, Central Islip, Park Slope, everywhere, and we say we’re collecting money for PCBs testing in schools. But the money isn’t going to the campaign," a source told the network.

If those allegations can be proven to be true, it could spell trouble for NYCC, says Gene Takagi, a nonprofit attorney and director of the Nonprofit & Exempt Organizations Law Group. "It's the basic definition of fraud: you can't lie or cheat or deceit about raising funds or how funds are going to be used," he said. "Any individual committing fraud could be subject to criminal penalties and the state could revoke an organization's ability to raise charitable funds."

Still, the devil is in the details. "If they said they were using it for a particular drive and part of that drive is consistent with raising money for Occupy Wall Street, you would say that they hadn't committed fraud," he said. "But if there's no reasonable way the drives are correlated, you could say it would be worth investigating."

Whether U.S. attorney Loretta Lynch of the Eastern District of New York takes Issa up on his request for an investigation is far from certain. "I have no comment as it is a matter of policy that we do not confirm/deny or discuss investigations," said Lynch's spokesman in a statement.

Experts we spoke with said they would be surprised if a fraud case was pursued, given the small amount of money reportedly involved. (The Fox News source said that only $5,000 was raised in the fundraising drive in question.)

"For $5,000, I'm not sure that's something that the DA would pursue," said Takagi. Cliff Perlman a partner at the New York-city based law firm Perlman & Perlman, which specializes in nonprofit law, agreed. "In my experience, the U.S. attorney and the district attorney don't prosecute cases for those small numbers. It's really hard to get the government to intervene."

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2011/11/lets-take-gops-zombie-acorn-probe-completely-seriously-second/44727/

cape wind investigation:http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2012/07/issas-new-renewable-peeve

After more than a year of failing to find a scandal in the Obama administration's loan to bankrupt solar company Solyndra, House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) is now probing whether the Federal Aviation Administration's approval of the Cape Wind project was "politically based."

Issa and Transportation Committee Chair John Mica (R-Fla.) sent a letter to FAA chief Michael Huerta last week saying that they have "significant questions" about the project's approval, based on emails among staff that noted that the project consideration was "political." The letter strongly indicates that the White House might have pressured the FAA to approve the offshore wind project, which would be the first in the nation, as part of its green energy agenda. "A politically based determination of the Cape Wind project by FAA is an unacceptable use of federal authority, contravenes FAA’s statutory mandate, and raises significant safety concerns for aviation in Nantucket Sound," they wrote.

===

beat by arnold for gov recall:

But Schwarzenegger's announcement came as the greatest shock to Issa,

who had already spent some of his car-alarm fortune to warm up a

gubernatorial campaign.

He had taken out radio ads, printed up posters and hired a new team of

consultants, including Ken Khachigian, a veteran speechwriter who

served on President Richard Nixon's 1972 campaign "attack group," and

Larry McCarthy, the media producer of the infamous Willie Horton ad

that helped elect George Bush Senior in 1988.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Khachigian

Kenneth L. Khachigian (born September 14, 1944, in Visalia, California) is an Armenian-American campaign strategist, speechwriter, and attorney. He was a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon and was chief speechwriter for PresidentRonald Reagan.

He is a veteran of nine presidential campaigns. Most recently, he served as a senior advisor to the presidential campaigns of Bob Dole (1996), John McCain (2000), andFred Thompson (2008).

prop23

Beyond the donations to Fiorina and Prop. 23, coal concerns haven’t had much to do with California politics. Coal PAC, the industry lobby, has made occasional donations to California members of Congress, federal records show. In recent years, Coal PAC has donated $16,500 to former Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy; $7,000 to Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Clovis; $5,250 to Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands; $4,500 to Rep. Wally Herger, R-Chico; $2,500 to Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista; and $500 to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Huntington Beach.

Also, in 2000, four Pennsylvania coal companies donated to California’s state Democratic committee. They were Bologna Coal ($479); Camelot Coal ($383); Forcey Coal $200); and Miller Brothers Coal ($250).

http://www.californiawatch.org/watchblog/1-ohio-coal-company-donated-fiorina-also-gave-prop-23

http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/press/view/1502/

Three things you should know about Darrell Issa (R-CA):

1. Rep. Issa co-sponsored a bill (:{HR 822:(style="cursor:pointer"):}:) to gut state laws on carrying concealed weapons in public, stripping police in states like New York and California of their discretion over who carries guns in public. This “race to the bottom” federal legislation would allow violent, dangerous, mentally or emotionally unstable people, like George Zimmerman or Seattle's Ian Stawicki, to carry loaded hidden handguns in public in states across the country. It would put innocent people, as it did in the case of Trayvon Martin, at risk of being killed or injured, intentionally and unintentionally.

During the debate on HR 822, Rep. Issa voted "nay" to prohibit people convicted of assaulting or impersonating a law enforcement officer from being able to carry concealed guns across the country. (Amendment 8)

3. During the debate on HR 822, Rep. Issa voted "nay" to prohibit people convicted of selling a controlled substance to a minor (drug dealers) from being able to carry concealed guns across the country. (Amendment 9)

Brady Campaign Vice President Dennis Henigan has written a blog explaining why Congress is deserving of a contempt citation for enabling the gun trafficking that “Fast and Furious” was an ill-conceived attempt to curtail.To read that blog, click here.

---

Eric Holder, Congress, and Gun Trafficking

Click on arrow to learn more!

**5 Things You Should Know**

Weak U.S. gun laws are facilitating gun trafficking to Mexico.
Gun traffickers can buy semi-automatic handguns and rifles in bulk in the 8,000 gun shops along the border with Mexico. According to an analysis by President Felipe Calderon of Mexico, that's nine gun shops for every Wal-Mart found in all of Mexico and the United States combined. The Fast and Furious program involved about 2,000 firearms crossing the border into Mexico, about 3% of the guns moving from U.S. gun shops to Mexico in the last four years.
While bulk sales of handguns trigger a report to ATF; bulk sales of rifles did not until the Obama Administration's rifle reporting rule went into effect.
House Republicans are actively blocking the Obama Administration's efforts catch gun traffickers.
The reporting rule works.

» Click here to read our entire statement

Here we go again with Darrell Issa out there pushing the right-wing conspiracy theory started by Mike Vanderboegh, that the Fast and Furious debacle is really just a secret ploy to try to get more gun control laws enacted: GOP Oversight Chair Doubles Down On Wild Conspiracy Theory: Obama DOJ May Have Started Fast & Furious To Limit Access To Guns:

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) doubled down on a right wing conspiracy theory this morning, again suggesting that the failed “Fast and Furious” operation was a secret scheme by Democrats designed to promote stronger gun control regulation. But he also admitted that he had absolutely no evidence to back the theory and likely never would. [...]

Issa is more than happy to continue to promote the theory — started and peddled by Mike Vanderboegh, a man who once called for militias to break the windows of members of Congress because of the passage of the Affordable Care Act — even though even he concedes even he does not believe he will ever be able to produce any evidence of the allegations.

Transcript below the fold.

TAPPER: Last question for you, Congressman. You seem to suggest Fast and Furious may be part of a deliberate attempt by the administration to make the case for stronger gun laws. Here you are speaking in April at an NRA convention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISSA: They've never answered the question, what were they thinking of? Could it be that what they really were thinking of was, in fact, to use this -- this walking of guns in order to promote an assault weapons ban? Many think so, and they haven't come up with an explanation that would cause any of us not to agree.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: You really think that there's a possibility that they were sending guns across the border not because they were trying to get people in the Mexican drug cartels, not because they were trying to figure out drug -- I mean, gun trafficking, but because they were trying to push gun control?

ISSA: Two things quickly. First of all, this was so flawed that you can't believe they expected to actually get criminal prosecutions as a result of it. So the level of flaw -- flaw -- flaw, if that's a word, here is huge.

But here's the real answer as to gun control. We have e-mails from people involved in this that are talking about using what they're finding here to support the -- basically assault weapons ban or greater reporting.

So chicken or egg? We don't know which came first; we probably never will. We do know that during this -- this Fast and Furious operation, there were e-mails in which they're saying we can use this as part of additional reporting or things like assault weapons ban. So the people involved saw the benefit of what -- what they were gathering. Whether or not that was their original purpose, we probably will never know.

And I -- and I take people at their word that this started off in some way as an idea where they could get good information, they could, in fact, roll up bad guys. But after it was out of control and people are saying, we're letting too many guns walk, those kinds of e-mails occurred, we -- we have people who also were being opportunists.

And, remember, Eric Holder issued a four-state (ph) reporting for long rifles and used what he had had here. Right in the middle of the scandal, he issues that for four states. They never needed this information. They never needed the reporting to get this information. These federally licensed gun dealers came to ATF and told them they had straw-buyers, told them they had suspicious buyers, and turned them on to the very people. And one of these people bought over 700 weapons, just one straw-buyer.

So it's very clear the system was working, where ATF was getting information voluntarily from licensed gun dealers. They don't need the additional reporting, but they got it anyway, and they used gun violence to the border and this operation as part of it. So I think when you look at the chicken or egg, there's proof that they certainly were opportunist.

===

attempts to extend solyndra: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0612/77576.html

===

Republican Congressman Darrell Issa is continuing his witch hunt against American jobs. Why? Because they are classified as green.

It may seem like an odd tactic for a politician to go after these kinds of jobs and isolate so much of his own constituency, since 338,000 of the green jobs he is belittling — representing 2.3 percent of total employment in 2010 — came from his home state.

But we’ll have to leave that to California voters.

At yesterday’s Oversight Committee hearing on Department of Labor reporting of green jobs, Rep. Issa pinpointed a few positions and asked if they were considered green. In particular, Issa was very troubled that retail workers in secondhand stores were counted as green because of their role in recycling/conservation.

His rhetorical point is to illustrate that green jobs numbers are inflated. So let’s finish the math for Rep. Issa.

Based on analysis from the Brookings Institution, of the 2.7 million clean energy jobs in the U.S., 25.7 percent are in manufacturing (687,000 jobs), 21.5 percent are in public administration (575,000 jobs), and 12.7 are in transportation and warehousing (341,000 jobs). 10.4 percent are professional, scientific, and technical services (279,000 jobs) and 11.2 percent are waste management (299,000 jobs).

How many are retail? 0.6 percent. Here’s a graph to illustrate that breakdown:

Interestingly, at least 42 percent of oil and gas jobs are in gas stations, offering a median hourly wage of $8.68. Green jobs have a median salary of $46,343 – roughly $7,700 more than median wages across the broader economy. They are widely distributed, creating more jobs for every million invested in every employment category of low, mid, and high credentialed jobs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/22/jim-jordan-solyndra-investigation-elections_n_1372205.html?ir=Green&ref=topbar

solyndra motive

Video: :{Chairman Issa Says He Won’t Investigate Heartland Institute’s Manipulation Of Science Because Koch Brothers Support It:(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:

Lee Fang 3.6.2012

Last month, a cache of internal fundraising documents revealed that the Heartland Institute, a Chicago-based think tank, operated essentially as a pay-to-play front for polluters. The Heartland Institute has played a major role over the years in shaping the debate over climate change, aggressively arguing that greenhouse gases do no contribute to the warming of the planet. The documents, however, show that industry groups finance Heartland in exchange for industry-friendly policy on a range of topics, from climate change to telecom policy to health care.

At the California Republican Party spring convention in Burlingame, Republic Report caught up with the chief investigator in the House of Representatives, Congressman Darrell Issa. In 2009, Oversight Committee members, including Issa and Rep. Dan Burton, called for an investigation into the politicization of climate science after the so-called Climategate scandal (the scientists involved in that leak were later exonerated following an investigation). In his demand for a Climategate investigation, Issa stressed the importance that “U.S. policies are not driven by corrupted science and data.”

So we asked Issa if he would follow-up and issue a call for a new investigation into the Heartland Institute, given his interest in ensuring sound science:

FANG: Congressman, several members of your Oversight committee called for investigations into the so-called Climategate scandal two years ago. Now, in the last three weeks, there’s been a big scandal around the Heartland Foundation; a lot of industry groups, like Koch Industries, have funded this front group–

ISSA: You know I appreciate you being here as an operative for the Democratic Party, thank you–

FANG: I’m not an operative, I go after both parties. Now, would you answer my question about the Heartland Foundation? Would you investigate this new scandal?

ISSA: I’ve had over 800 investigations at some point. We’re continuing to do that. If you start naming companies and individuals, two brothers, you know you’ve crossed the line.

FANG: Well, Phillip Morris–

Watch it:

Issa’s bizarre declaration that he would not investigate Heartland because of its Koch Industries funding seems to suggest that he is running defense for the company, which has given him thousands in campaign contributions.

For the record, I am not an “operative for the Democratic Party.” I have published many critical pieces concerning Democratic lawmakers, lobbyists, and I am just behind Glenn Beck in confronting former White House communications director Anita Dunn.

Issa may have dismissed my question because I was the first to report on Issa’s earmark corruption and his insider trading, two stories that later became the centerpiece of a major New York Times expose on Issa’s many conflicts of interest last August.

http://www.republicreport.org/category/lobbying/page/2/

When pulling together a panel for a Congressional hearing on birth control, wouldn’t you think it would have at least onewoman on it? Come on!This is what Rep. Darrell Issa, the House Oversight Committee Chairman, said when turning away the sole female voice that would have been heard:

“As the hearing is not about reproductive rights and contraception but instead about the Administration’s actions as they relate to freedom of religion and conscience, he believes that Ms. Fluke is not an appropriate witness.”

2/12

---

WASHINGTON -- Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) on Thursday denounced what she referred to as the "witch hunt" and "character assassination" launched against Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko by four of his colleagues on the commission.

"I'm going to have hearings every three months and bring people back ... I'm not going to be holding a hearing like Chairman Issa did to delve into ... character assassinations of anybody," Boxer said in a hearing before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, adding that she was "shocked and appalled" by the assault on the chairman, an attack which she said her own committee's research had determined to be entirely unfounded.

"I would also say in reference to whistle-blowing," Boxer added, "when I look at the nuclear industry over the years ... the whistle blowers are the ones who blow the whistle on safety problems, they're not the ones who blow the whistle because they don't like this or that."

The attempted coup on Jaczko became public on Friday, after Rep. Darrell Issa released an October missive airing the commission's internal disputes. In that letter to White House Chief of Staff Bill Daley, the four commissioners said they had "grave concerns" about the chairman's leadership. Daley has since defended the chairman and declined Issa's request to have an administration official appear at Wednesday's hearing.

The NRC's four commissioners on Wednesday testified at Chairman Issa's House Oversight and Government Committee hearing, accusing him of "bullying and intimidation," as well as "outbursts of abusive rage." Commissioner William Magwood even charged, in written testimony, that the chairman has been abusive to women.

Boxer on Thursday called the charges against the chairman baseless and politically motivated, singling out Magwood's charge regarding women as particularly absurd. Though the four commissioners have sought to paint the conflicts as personal, a report released last week by Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) suggests more ideological underpinnings. Markey's report revealed a concerted effort by the commissioners -- two Democrats and two Republicans -- to delay the implementation of stricter safety standards after the Fukushima meltdown. Jaczko's use of an emergency status declaration to implement the recommendations of the Fukushima Task Force, which the other pro-industry commissioners opposed, was a particular bone of contention.

Republicans at Thursday's hearing continued their attempts to tar the personality of the chairman, with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) asserting he was "very troubled by the leadership of the chairman."

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko on Wednesday said he will not step down despite the unified attack on his leadership launched by his colleagues on the commission, a line of argument he has continued to promote. "We have to figure out a way to disagree without there being personality accusations," Jazcko said at the hearing on Thursday.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said personality differences are the least of it.

"I suspect that there is more going on here other than personality conflicts," said Sanders at Thursday's hearing. "The media has also -- at least some of the media -- has characterized what's going on as a 'coup' attempted by several commissioners to remove the chairman, Mr. Jaczko, who in fact has been pushing for safety reforms. I think what we may have here is a situation where some commissioners did not understand the function of the chairman and where some commissioners have a philosophical disagreement with the chairman on safety and transparency ... My understanding is Chairman Jaczko is fighting for more transparency and some [commissioners] are not. That's not a personality difference."

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) was even more direct.

"What we're seeing today," Lautenberg said, "is what you get when commissioners put the profit interests of the industry they're supposed to regulate ahead of the safety of the indsutry." Chairman Jaczko, Lautenberg noted, is the first chairman in the history of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission who has not come from the industry. "He's a scientist running his commission based on science," Lautenberg said, "and clearly some powerful people don't like his style."

HuffPost reported on Monday that Magwood, the leader of the assault on the chairman and his likely successor in the event of a successful coup, had previously worked as a consultant for the parent company of the firm that operates Fukushima's nuclear facility.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/15/barbara-boxer-shocked-by-issa-witch-hunt_n_1151103.html?view=print&comm_ref=false

accuses waxman, but he went to fundraiser?

WASHINGTON -- The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) has accused Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) of "crony capitalism" in the case of Solyndra and beyond, alleging the California Democrat picked company winners and losers for political advantage. But in a letter to Rep. Issa on Monday, Waxman said he had absolutely no connection to the selection of the California-based solar company that secured $535 million in low-interest federal loans in 2009 and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.

---

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/darrell-issa-solyndra-mitt-romney_n_1034720.html

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) attended a fundraiser co-hosted by a lobbyist for Solyndra, the now-bankrupt solar energy company Issa is investigating as chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, reports the *San Diego Union-Tribune*.

According to his hometown paper, Issa was featured on the invitation to a fundraiser in Washington for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign co-hosted by Alex Mistri of the Glover Park Group, a lobbyist for Solyndra. A spokesman said Issa attended the event in order to support the former Massachusetts governor, who he endorsed for president. 10/27

==

connected to nuclear industry coup

http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/199133-issa-nuclear-chief-jaczko-driving-nrc-toward-catastrophe

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/70316.html

issa got nuke $?

==

A leading House Republican has asked the Department of the Interior why the National Park Service has allowed dozens of Occupy D.C. protesters to remain in a downtown park that has been damaged by the makeshift tent city.=

WASHINGTON -- Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight Committee, is pushing for a federal probe of a New York City community organization based on a Fox News report that accused the organization of improperly aiding the Occupy Wall Street movement and linked the group to the now defunct ACORN.

A year after Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now filed for bankruptcy, conservative fascination with the group hasn't waned. And recently, Fox has charged that New York Communities for Change -- which uses office space and some staff that the ACORN used to have, according to Fox -- solicited donations from union members to secretly support Occupy Wall Street.

Now Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa has decided the anonymously sourced stories warrant an investigation from United States Attorney Loretta Lynch, who oversees the Eastern District of New York.

NYCC, which has adamantly denied the Fox stories, offered a blistering response to Issa, calling him a "hatchet man" for Fox News.

"Issa, who famously declared that he wanted to hold a hearing a week for forty weeks when he took over the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has largely come up empty," said Jean Sassine, treasurer and a board member of NYCC. "[He's] now scraping the bottom of the barrel, wasting Americans taxpayer money chasing baseless rumors fed to him by Rupert Murdoch.

...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/07/darrell-issa-seeks-probe-_n_1080698.html

Darrell Issa Goes Postal, Job-Killing Retiree Bill Moves to the States

Submitted by Mary Bottari on September 30, 2011 - 7:49am

Darrell Issa is going postal. In the name of "Saving the Post Office," the head of the House Government Oversight Committee is ready to knock off 200,000 jobs and put the U.S. Postal Service, founded in 1775, on the path to oblivion. President Obama's rescue plan is only slightly better -- 80,000 people might lose their jobs.

are there multiple versions of this?

see lame rebuttal, NB FOIA, arrest concealed gun

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/us/politics/15issa.html?_r=1

aug 14

A Businessman in Congress Helps His District and Himself

tough to sep biz from gov role:

A Powerful Gadfly

As the influential chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Mr. Issa has proven both a reliable friend to business and a constant annoyance to an Obama administration that he sees as anti-business. Even before formally taking over the committee in December, he made headlines by asking 150 businesses and trade groups to identify regulations that they considered overly burdensome, and he has issued numerous subpoenas on his own authority in investigating programs he believes are harmful.

several conflicts of interst: hwy at medical ctr, sirius satellite , cars etc

Ties to Merrill Lynch

The lines between Mr. Issa's many interests have also become entangled in his frequent criticism of regulators and his frequent defense of Wall Street. At a series of hearings in 2009, Mr. Issa accused Treasury officials of a Ã¢ÂÂcover-upÃ¢ÂÂ of their role in Bank of AmericaÃ¢ÂÂs $50 billion purchase of Merrill Lynch months earlier. Most pointedly, he accused Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, of bullying Bank of America Ã¢ÂÂbehind closed doorsÃ¢ÂÂ into buying Merrill Lynch at bargain rates and then lying about it.

Ã¢ÂÂI for one,Ã¢ÂÂ Mr. Issa told the Fed chairman, Ã¢ÂÂam looking at Main Street America, the stockholders who in some cases got less than they would have gotten through other means. This includes Chrysler, General Motors and, of course, Bank of America and Merrill Lynch.Ã¢ÂÂ

Mr. Issa did not mention his own extensive links to Merrill Lynch.

In a television interview days later, however, he said: Ã¢ÂÂI bank at Merrill Lynch. IÃ¢ÂÂm very well aware that every broker there, all the people who were stockholders, were furious that they were in fact being fire-saled to them.Ã¢ÂÂ

And Mr. Issa is no ordinary Merrill customer.

His transactions there have totaled more than a billion dollars in the last decade, records show. In the aftermath of the firmÃ¢ÂÂs acquisition in September 2008, in fact, he bought and sold at least $206 million in Merrill Lynch mutual funds in the next 15 days, records show.

His ties to the bank deepened last year, records show, as Merrill Lynch gave him two Ã¢ÂÂpersonal notesÃ¢ÂÂ for lines of credit worth at least $75 million.

Likewise, Mr. Issa has aggressively defended Goldman Sachs, another Wall Street giant.

When the Securities and Exchange Commission brought a major lawsuit charging Goldman with fraud last year, Mr. Issa fired back by opening an investigation. The timing of the lawsuit, he said, smacked of a Ã¢ÂÂpartisan political agendaÃ¢ÂÂ meant to help President Obama and bolster a bill overhauling financial regulations.

His charge drew nationwide attention, putting regulators on the defensive, but the S.E.C. inspector general later found Ã¢ÂÂno evidenceÃ¢ÂÂ of political meddling.

Mr. Issa came to GoldmanÃ¢ÂÂs defense again last month in a letter to regulators complaining about restrictions on financial firms. Broker dealers Ã¢ÂÂsuch as Goldman SachsÃ¢ÂÂ faced Ã¢ÂÂa substantial reduction in leverageÃ¢ÂÂ because of excessive capital requirements, he wrote.

As with Merrill Lynch, Mr. Issa is keenly interested in GoldmanÃ¢ÂÂs performance.

A few weeks before opening his inquiry into the Goldman lawsuit, in fact, he bought another large batch of shares in one of the firmÃ¢ÂÂs high-yield mutual funds, records show. By the end of the year, his stake in GoldmanÃ¢ÂÂs fund was worth as much as $25 million.

Barclay Walsh contributed research.

RS 12

The new chairman of the House Oversight Committee has vowed to use his subpoena powers to "investigate" climate scientists, denouncing federal funding of their work as part of a "tsunami of opacity, waste, fraud and abuse." Insisting that the planet is only going through a temporary and natural "warming cycle," Issa points to the bogus "climategate" scandal as evidence that scientists "played fast and loose with both the truth and our money." Money is certainly something Issa knows well: His car-alarm empire has made him one of the richest members of Congress, with an estimated fortune of $160 million. And while he has absolutely no background in science, he has a unique set of credentials for ferreting out wrongdoing: He has been charged twice with auto theft and once with carrying a concealed weapon, and owned a factory destroyed by suspected arson.

The Spill, The Scandal and the President

rule change scam:http://news.firedoglake.com/2011/06/03/chairman-issa-picking-minority-witnesses-for-hearings-on-oversight-committee/

http://issaexposed.couragecampaign.org/

...

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Putting the Issa Enterprises band back together to defend the boss

excerpt, see below:

POLITICS: Issa staff has close ties to industry

Some raise concerns about panel's ability to be impartial

By Brooke Williams and Matt Pearce - Watchdog Institute | Posted: Sunday, February 27, 2011 9:52 pm

Issa took control of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform last month, and asked companies, nonprofits and industry associations for guidance on federal regulations.

The committee has broad powers to subpoena and investigate government and industry.

His committee staff has issued findings sympathetic to industries bent on softening or eliminating certain regulations.

A preliminary report this month, for example, focused largely on Environmental Protection Agency standards and relied heavily on input from industry.

Some on Issa's team know the territory from the inside.

Several have ties to billionaire brothers David and Charles Koch, who have made much of their fortune in oil and chemical businesses and have a reputation as staunch small-government conservatives.

One oversight staffer listed as committee counsel is the son of a lobbyist pushing for regulatory changes on behalf of about two dozen big corporations.

At least four other staffers once lobbied Congress for companies and industry associations.

Another counsel worked for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, which Issa recently asked for input on government regulations.

...

Among those that do have connections, some have ties to the Kochs.

One person completed a Koch Associate Program with the Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation and coordinated a regulatory studies program at the Mercatus Center. The center, a think tank heavily funded by Koch and co-founded by Richard Fink, the executive vice president of Koch Industries, has a long history of advocating against government regulations.

Another staffer, Daniel Epstein, was at the Koch foundation and worked "together with Koch Industries Inc.'s assistant general counsel" before joining the committee as Republican counsel, according to a statement attributed to him in *The Hill* ((/)), a trade publication that covers Congress. Epstein did not respond to interview requests.

At least three more oversight staffers also have ties to the Mercatus Center, which counts two Koch Industries executives on its board of directors, including Charles Koch, the chairman and chief executive of Koch Industries.

Catherine Behan, spokeswoman for Mercatus, defended its independence, saying that its research is not guided or influenced by any outside business interests.

"We don't do directed research," she said. "No one comes to us and says 'we want to do a study on X.'"

In the past three years, Koch companies reported spending about $40.5 million lobbying on behalf of energy and manufacturing interests. The companies lobbied significantly on Environmental Protection Agency regulations--which oversight committee staffers scrutinized in a recent report and were the focus of many industry responses to Issa's solicitations for guidance on regulations.

***

Current Republican committee members received at least $72,750 from Koch Industries in the last election. Most are freshman, who received at least $42,750.

Koch Industries began contributing to Issa's campaigns in 2008 and has given him at least $12,500.

Levinthal, of the Center for Responsive Politics, said the Koch brothers "have a portfolio filled with ways to influence the government."

"The committee at the end of the day may be more reflective of the interests that the company and its executives espouse," he said.

Other interests also intersect on the oversight committee.

For example, an oversight committee counsel, Kristina Moore worked in the same office as Shane Karr, an auto alliance executive whom oversight staff interviewed for its report.

Moore did not respond to an interview request. A spokesman for the auto alliance said Karr declined to be interviewed.

***

In February 2009, after Issa became the ranking Republican, he approved a trip to a Mercatus-funded retreat for his committee staff director, Larry Brady.

On his disclosure form, Brady, who did not respond to an interview request, cited the purpose of the trip: "Provide in-depth briefings on issues of relevance to oversight investigations."

Based at George Mason University in Virginia, Mercatus' activities overlap with the commercial and ideological interests of Charles Koch.

Mercatus' research policy states that "Mercatus financial supporters have absolutely no influence or control" over its work, and Behan said the Koch executives on the board have no influence either.

Still, Issa asked the Mercatus Center for regulatory advice in his recent solicitation blitz. In response, Mercatus outlined ways government regulations can hurt the economy.

Two Mercatus scholars, as well as FOX News' Glenn Beck and the Wall Street Journal's Stephen Moore, were on the agenda of speakers at the Aspen conference.

Tyler Grimm, a new oversight committee staffer, contributed to Beck's book "Arguing With Idiots," and was a research assistant for Moore, an economic columnist.

Grimm did not respond to interview requests. Beck's spokesman said he was not available for an interview.

Moore said Grimm was "a good economist" and a good fit for the oversight committee's staff. Moore also said he thought highly of Mercatus' work.

"I think they've got some of the best economists in the country and that they're fair and balanced," he said.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Darrell_Issa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa

Darrell Issa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Darrell Issa	Darrell Issa

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th district	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California's 49th district
Incumbent	Incumbent
Assumed office January 3, 2001	Assumed office January 3, 2001
Preceded by	Ron Packard

Born	November 1, 1953 (1953-11-01) (age 56) Cleveland, Ohio
Political party	Republican
Spouse(s)	Kathy Issa
Children	William Issa
Residence	Vista, California
Alma mater	Kent State University Stark, Siena Heights College
Occupation	Electronics executive
Religion	Antiochian Orthodox Christian
Military service	Military service
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1970-1980

Contents[hide]

[edit] Early life

Issa made his fortune through his company, Directed Electronics Incorporated, that is most famous for its flagship product, the "Viper" car alarm. It bears a siren that is a recording of Issa's voice saying, "please step away from the car."^{[10]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-9) As of 2004, Directed Electronics was North America's largest aftermarket automotive electronics manufacturer. Issa divested personal interest in Directed Electronics after being elected to public office, but he is the richest member of the House and the second richest in all of the 111th Congress. He is worth an estimated $251 million.^{[3]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-crp-2)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-10)^{11]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-10)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-CBS237-1)^{2]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-CBS237-1)

[edit] Political career

[edit] First campaign

[edit] House of Representatives

[edit] Gubernatorial recall

[edit] Middle East involvement

Issa voted "yes" for the use of military force in Iraq (2002)^{[22]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-21) and Afghanistan.

On June 16, 2006 he voted to reject setting timetables for withdrawal from Iraq and on December 14, 2005 he voted for the reauthorization of the Patriot Act.

[edit] 2008 House election

Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in California, 2008

[edit] Political views

[](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rep._Darrell_Issa.jpg)

[](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rep._Darrell_Issa.jpg "Enlarge")

Darrell Issa

He has signed the "Taxpayer Protection Pledge" of the Americans for Tax Reform, an organization that opposes all tax increases.^{[34]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-33)

[edit] Committee assignments

**Committee on Oversight and Government Reform** (Ranking Member)
- As Ranking Member of the full committee, Rep. Issa may serve as an ex officio member of all subcommittees

**Committee on the Judiciary**
- Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law
- Subcommittee on Courts and Competition Policy

[edit] Criticism and controversy

[edit] Blackwater controversy

On February 7, 2007, four mothers, wives, and daughters of four Blackwater security guards killed in Fallujah, Iraq^{[35]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-34) testified before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform hearings on Iraq contractors. Issa made several statements construed as disparaging to the women and their motives for appearing: "I don't think your testimony today is particularly germane to the oversight of this committee" and "...the opening statement. Who wrote it?".^{[36]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-35)^[dead ^link]^{[37]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-36)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37)^{38]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37) The families had sued North Carolina-based Blackwater USA, the company that employed their relatives as security guards, to gain information about the circumstances surrounding the menÃ¢ÂÂs deaths.^{[39]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-38)^{[^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-39)^{40]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-39) Congresswoman Janice Schakowsky of Illinois lambasted Issa saying, "I also wanted to take exception to questions about who wrote this, first of all, because I think clearly the implication was that somehow these wonderful women could not possibly have written that wonderful, heartfelt testimony and that it took a lawyer in order to put it together and I resent that very much."^{[38]^}(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Issa#cite_note-HOGR-37)

[edit] 9/11 victims

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who could become chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee