When pressed for actual evidence that Obama is behind the IRS scandal, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) imploded and revealed that he has nothing.
Video via Think Progress:
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Transcript:
CROWLEY: The investigator said “So is it your perspective that ultimately the responsible parties for the decisions reported by the [Inspector General] that is the decision that target tea party and patriot applications, are not in the Cincinnati office? The employee says, ‘I don’t know how to answer that question. I mean, from an agent standpoint, we didn’t do anything wrong. We followed directions based on other people telling us what to do.’ Investigator, ‘And you ultimately followed directions from Washington, is that correct?
The employee, ‘if direction had come down from Washington, yes.’The investigator, ‘But with respect to the particular scrutiny that was given to tea party applications, those directions emanated from Washington, is that right?’
The employee answers, ‘I believe so.’ It’s totally not definitive.
ISSA: This one isn’t. But I will tell you, one of the agents asked for and got a transfer because that person was so uncomfortable that they wanted out of it, and they’ve said categorically, they thought it was inappropriate, and that’s why that person requested a transfer.
CROWLEY: And you have those transcripts as well?
ISSA: Right, and these transcripts will all be made public.
CROWLEY: When are you going to put (inaudible) out? Because you know our problem really here is, and you know that your critics say Republicans and you in particular sort of cherry pick information that go to your foregone conclusion, and so it worries us to kind of put this stuff out. Can you not put the whole transcript out?
ISSA: The whole transcript will be put out. We understand this is in real time, and the administration is still. Their paid liar. Their spokesperson, the picture behind. He’s still making up things about what happened, and calling this local rogue. There’s no indication. The reason why Lois Lerner tried to take the fifth is not because there’s rogue in Cincinnati. It’s because this is a problem that was coordinated in all likelihood right out of Washington headquarters right out of Washington headquarters. We have eighteen more transcribed interviews. We’re getting to proving it.
CROWLEY: That’s it. You don’t have that direct link. You have the frontline agents going, yeah, we figured it was from Washington or I believe it was, but as of yet you don’t have that definitive, yeah, this guy called me and said, people, go look for tea party and patriot applications.
Candy Crowley is one person in the mainstream media who seems to have wised up to Rep. Issa’s pattern of cherry picking information to support his Obama conspiracies. Issa has zero evidence to support his claim that the White House was involved in the IRS scandal. When Crowley pushed him to release the full transcripts of his interviews, the California congressman revealed what this investigation is really about when he called White House Press Secretary Jay Carney a paid liar.
Issa had so little evidence that when pressed he pulled out his standard cry that the White House won’t turn over the documents. Rep. Issa’s standard move when pressed for facts is to go all X-Files and claim the truth is out there, but Obama won’t let him have access to it.
By claiming that the administration is lying without any proof to back it up, Issa has revealed that the IRS investigation is nothing more than another partisan witch hunt. The good news is that after getting burned by the Republican edited Benghazi emails, parts of the media are showing more caution when dealing with Issa’s conspiracy theories.
Instead of bolstering his case for White House involvement in the IRS scandal, Rep. Issa shot himself in the foot. Issa couldn’t control his Obama hate on camera, and his outburst has blown a giant hole in Republican claims that President Obama was behind the IRS scandal.
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
