Darrell Issa Takes Aim At Obama White House: 'One Of The Most Corrupt Administrations'

The GOP's top House investigator in the new Congress is putting the White House on notice that he's going to be aggressive in going after what he considers wasteful spending by the Obama administration.

California Rep. Darrell Issa is set to lead the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- and gain the chairman's subpoena power.

During an appearance on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday morning, Issa was asked about a suggestion he made in November following the elections that President Obama "has been one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times." The Republican congressman found himself addressing the controversial remarks despite having already expressed regret over his choice of words.

I corrected -- what I meant to say -- you know, on live radio, with Rush going back and forth -- and by the way that was because Rush had me on to answer the question of -- about coming together, having compromise. He didn't like the compromise word, when I said we're going to agree to disagree and then we're going to find a kind of common ground, the kind of compromise that makes -- and gets things done.

In saying that this is one of the most corrupt administrations, which is what I meant to say there, when you hand out $1 trillion in TARP just before this president came in, most of it unspent, $1 trillion nearly in stimulus that this president asked for, plus this huge expansion in health care and government, it has a corrupting effect.

When I look at waste, fraud and abuse in the bureaucracy and in the government, this is like steroids to pump up the muscles of waste.

In a separate appearance on "Fox News Sunday" over the weekend, Issa suggested the White House hire more accountants -- not lawyers -- to deal with requests for information from the Republican-led House. He said that it's "more of an accounting function than a legal function" and suggested the White House look at wasteful spending -- not the GOP -- as the enemy.

Issa took direct direct aim at Attorney General Eric Holder on the program.

"He isn't doing enough," explained the incoming committee chairman. "He's hurting this administration. If you're hurting the administration, either stop hurting the administration or leave."

Fox News reports:

The pointed words came after Issa was asked on "Fox News Sunday" about Holder's handling of several hot-button issues, including the possibility of legal action against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. Holder has said that the Justice Department is conducting an investigation into the leak of thousands of diplomatic cables, pledging to hold accountable anybody found acting in violation of U.S. law.

The California Republican said Sunday that if President Obama is not treating the unauthorized disclosure as terrorism, then Holder needs to go after the leak as a criminal matter. "Otherwise the world is laughing at this paper tiger we've become," he said.

Comments

[druneric]

08:52 AM on 01/18/2011

Oops. Didn't see that there were more pages. Yeah, he's a criminal and a hypocrit. Typical.

[CaptRuby]

08:18 PM on 01/04/2011

His seat is quite safe - won over 60% votes, it will be another 10 years before his constituency sees any trouble.

[CaptRuby]

08:16 PM on 01/04/2011

Did big business tell him to target the following also:

- min wage
- no HC coverage, business shouldn't be mandated to provide one
- no maternity/­paternity leave
- no paid holidays
- no unemployme­nt insurance benefits
- more in tax cuts
- biggest of all, freedom to offshore all US jobs, so that they can better a better deal on all of the above in those countries.­..

Countrymen­, welcome to 2011 and newly elected republican majority..­...

[blknightowl]

07:13 PM on 01/04/2011

And now he (Issa) has asked business and business lobbyist what they want him to investigate.

Wow! It's like the cops asking the crooks, "How can we make your life easier?"

This man is an accident waiting to happen. Oh, excuse me, the train wreck has already happened.
Nevermind.

[CaptRuby]

08:15 PM on 01/04/2011

Correction - corrupt cop.

[Ashley Anderson Isadore]

02:48 PM on 01/04/2011

HA HA HA HA....AFTER THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION...REALLY?!?!

[MANOFCOMMONSENSE]

01:11 PM on 01/04/2011

Issa has a guilty conscious... and most of those who do are suspicious of all others....

[truthseeker1960]

12:54 PM on 01/04/2011

No doubt Obama is the most corrupt president this country has ever seen. With the liberal media continually covering up for him it is hard to get the truth out there. However, Americans are waking up and are gettind fed up. This guy must be removed, unfortunately there is even more damage he can (and will) do before we get rid of him.

[bobk in nh]

03:03 PM on 01/04/2011

You can't be serious? Cheney getting his pals rich on the war wasn't corrupt? Name ONE Obama corruption scandal. You can't. You just don't like Obama. And you listen to too much Rush or Glen- and when will you realize that the media is pretty much mainstream- its your views that are way far from center. Quit parroting Rush, and quit letting the repubs scare you every election time into being unable to think for yourself and letting them flush your interests in favor of big business.

[100eight]

03:48 PM on 01/04/2011

No doubt - that is quite the statement. Made without real foundation or merit - no doubt.

[Millie Lencioni]

09:13 AM on 01/04/2011

Maybe Issa should follow his own advice, stop speaking untruths, or leave. You can be replaced with someone that can be a little more responsible.

[Cacey]

09:03 AM on 01/04/2011

Hearing the words "most corrupt" coming from the mouth of a man who worked hand in hand with Gingrich and DeLay is truly a joke.

[Millie Lencioni]

09:14 AM on 01/04/2011

They don't know any different, they think everyone is the same as they are.

[Kate Zeiss]

08:58 AM on 01/04/2011

Issa is the incoming Director of Sideshows . . .

[deschl]

08:43 AM on 01/04/2011

Even more corrupt than an administration who manufactures a war to fill Halliburton's bank account, a company that the vice president benefits from???????

[Marcine]

01:00 PM on 01/04/2011

AMEN!!! or the Administration that orchestrated the biggest give away of America to his cronies. AMEN. Everytime they hit Obama with a subpena, the Attorney General should send one to Bush and Cheney... and I bet that Issa will find a new agenda quick....
I was highly disappointed when Pelosi and Obama gave the Bush Administration a free pass, after what they did to the American People... but there is hope... Yeah Wikileaks,,, but give us some REAL proof.

[deschl]

06:10 PM on 01/04/2011

unfortunately they destroyed the country so and we were on the brink of a depression we had to focus on saving the economy, now cheney really should be charged for outing the cia agent because her husband questioned documents they were using for their case for war

[mari2JJ]

12:37 PM on 01/05/2011

Wasted money is bad, but the wounded and the dead from the GW Bush silly wars actually make him a killer of our young people. The war in Iraq was a one-upsmanship on his daddy but see how silly he conducted that war. His father, GW definitely is NOT!

[OnTopicOffTopic]

08:40 AM on 01/04/2011

I reckon it's apropriate to have a Hezb0llah loving, car ste@ling, lieing arsonist calling the administration corrupt.


Reminds me of Gingrich going after Clinton for a B_J while he is cheating on his cancer stricken wife.

[OnTopicOffTopic]

08:33 AM on 01/04/2011

During his time in Congress, Issa has repeatedly voiced support of Hezb0llah, an organizati on that is on the State Department 's terr0rist list and believed to be aligned with A l Qa eda. In the 1980s, Hezb0llah (which means "Party of All@h") mu_rdered more than 260 U.S. Marines while they slept in Beirut and t0 rtured to de@th Col. Richard Higgins (in 1990) and CIA attache William Buckley. Despite this Congressma n Issa has maintained his support of Hezb0llah.
On May 9, 2001, during a House subcommitt ee discussion of the Iran-Li_by a Sanctions Extension Act of 2001, Issa praised Hezb0llah, "in all candor, for the good things they do, too, the humanitari an, the hospitals, the schools they pay."
On April 14, 2002, Issa told Fox News Channel's Rita Cosby that Hezb0llah has done "some good things" and in that interview he also praised Ya_sser Ar_afat.
In November 2001, Issa told the Financial Times of London, "Hezb0llah does in fact have a limited scope. You must differenti ate ... from other organizati ons that might have a global reach.

In the early '70s, Darrell Issa was arrested twice on illegal-we apons charges, including an incident in Michigan that led to a misdemeano r gun conviction . After the Michigan arrest, Issa was fined $100 and put on three months' probation, Michigan court records show. Months before the Michigan incident, Issa was involved in another incident in Ohio. Court records on file in Issa's hometown of Cleveland Heights, show that in March 1972, one month after getting out of the Army, Issa was arrested on charges of carrying a concealed weapon and auto theft

[OnTopicOffTopic]

08:32 AM on 01/04/2011

☞☜

Darrell Issa has claimed that during the Vietn@m War he served with an elite Army b0mb unit, traveling with then-Presi dent Richard Nix on to protect him from harm. Issa claims he attended baseball's World Series in 1971 as part of the president' s security entourage. But military records and interviews with former soldiers cast doubt on Issa's stories. The records show that Issa's service on what he terms an "Army security team" amounted to less than six months on a b0mb-dispo sal squad in 1971. That experience would not qualify him for presidenti al security duty, former GI b0mb experts say and additional ly Issa couldn't have guarded Nix0n at the World Series because the president didn't attend the game, according to the Nix0n Presidenti al Library in Yorba Linda. Also, according to records and interviews , Issa's service on the b0mb squad was marred by a bad conduct rating, a demotion and allegation s that he had stolen a fellow soldier's car

A fire labeled “suspiciou s” by the Ohio fire marshal broke out at the Maple Heights company Issa was running in 1982. Insurers and the Ohio fire marshal’s office, which cited burn patterns indicating that a flammable liquid had been poured, also explored the possibilit y of arson but no charges were filed. Three weeks before the fire, Issa had more than quadrupled insurance coverage on parts and equipment in the building. He had ordered that a computer be removed about a week before the fire, according to transcript s of employee interviews , and wanted equipment blueprints , normally kept in a filing cabinet, to be put in a fireproof box. Public records show that Joey Adkins, a former partner told an insurance investigat or that he believed Issa started the fire. He repeated the charge in subsequent interviews , saying the business at the time needed cash and an insurance settlement would be a way to get it.

[Millie Lencioni]

09:18 AM on 01/04/2011

Oh, what a tangled web we weave. I think that they forget that we can fact check everything.

[lordmi]

08:31 AM on 01/04/2011

did You get a job?
Then do it, and do not cry.
Do the job and we will see - what do You worth ( if anything)