Darrell Issa took another step in his voyage into madness on Fox News Sunday by comparing his deeply partisan IRS investigation to President Obama flying on Air Force One.
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Transcript:
BREAM: OK. It’s no secret that you and the ranking member, Democrat Congressman Elijah Cummings, are not the best of friends. You’ve had some differences.
ISSA: Just a bit.
BREAM: He says that you’ve released things selectively and that you’ve — that’s given a false impression at times. Seemed like he took a swipe at the committee this week as well. I want to read something he was quoted in “USA Today” saying this. “Our committee and all committees should use taxpayer dollars to help better the everyday lives of our constituents, not inflate the press operations to basically run political campaigns out of government buildings.” Your response?
ISSA: Well, he should tell that to the president who has the large political campaign and Air Force one to do it. We have a small staff that work on new media and when I say small, you know, it’s less than a handful. The fact is that he talks about selective release. He is free to release the counterpoint of anything we do. When we do these reports, he’s free to produce a minority report. But back to the question of releasing selectively. Of course, you shouldn’t show your whole hand. Did you ever see a U.S. Attorney hand out an entire case or throw out all the transcripts? We do try to keep the American people informed. We’re doing — partly doing that by being on with you today because it’s important they understand. Conservatives were targeted for their political beliefs. Progressives weren’t. Lois Lerner broke rules. She broke the law. And now two years of her e- mail are missing. And we may never know all that she did.
Only in the deranged mind of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) could the president flying on Air Force be equal to an intentional decision to waste millions of taxpayer dollars on partisan political investigations. Issa is running out of excuses. He doesn’t have any evidence to back up the claims that he is making about Lois Lerner and the IRS. The evidence that has been released in the past proves that Issa is lying.
Rep. Issa still refuses to release all of the transcripts. He continues to claim that the IRS only targeted conservatives when there is a mountain of evidence to the contrary. Issa takes every opportunity to assign motives to Lois Lerner without providing a single fact to back up what he is saying. The biggest sign that Rep. Issa is hitting rock bottom is that he can’t even get top billing on Fox News Sunday during the 4th of July weekend.
Darrell Issa continues to appear on television to try to pump life back into his deflated pet conspiracy, but it’s dead. Even Fox News Sunday is burying Issa. His claims are getting so far out there that he is now comparing himself to the President Of The United States flying on Air Force One. Flying on Air Force One is a part of any president’s job, but conducting partisan investigations where the chairman already knows the answer and is looking for evidence to bolster his conclusion is an abuse of power.
Chairman Issa continues to abuse his power. Even as he slides towards lunacy, he continues to defend his abuses. It was time for Issa to put up or shut up long ago. Since he has no evidence and can’t prove his claims, it is time for the American people to shut Darrell Issa up.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
