The White House Smacks Down Darrell Issa By Refusing To Send Adviser To Testify

The White House is fighting back against Rep. Darrell Issa’s (R-CA) abuse of his subpoena power by refusing to send an administration adviser to testify at his hearing that is designed to drum up another Obama scandal.

Issa has been claiming for days that the White House is misusing taxpayer funds for partisan political purposes. As Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Issa unilaterally issued a subpoena for the testimony of David Simas, who is the director of the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach.

Rep. Issa claimed in a letter to White House counsel Neil Eggleston, “The Clinton White House, Bush White House, and other administrations before them have all faced congressional oversight of political activity supported by taxpayer funds. Under this Administration, like previous Administrations, members of President Obama’s cabinet have committed violations of the Hatch Act, which draws a line between campaign and official business.”

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Eggleston’s reply to Issa was very telling:

Democratic ranking member Rep. Elijah Cummings detailed a briefing that was held today for the Oversight Committee, “The briefing was attended by nine Republican staff working for Chairman Darrell Issa, who issued a unilateral subpoena last Friday to compel testimony at tomorrow’s hearing from David Simas, a senior advisor to the President and director of this new Office, despite the absence of any evidence of inappropriate activity by Simas or this Office.”

A Democratic source told Roll Call that Issa didn’t bother to come to the briefing, “Guess who didn’t even bother to show-up? One guess. Correct, no Issa. I do think it’s fairly remarkable, that if Issa wants to be seen as genuinely caring about the issue (and not just cameras), that he didn’t even bother to attend. I would love to know what his staff says he was doing instead.”

Issa didn’t bother to show up for a briefing that the White House is holding for him, but he knows that the Obama administration is breaking the law. This is why Darrell Issa’s investigations are a partisan abuse of power. Issa has no evidence that any laws were broken. He only wanted the Obama adviser at his hearing tomorrow to gin up publicity for his new conspiracy.

The White House counsel said Simas has immunity, and can’t be compelled to testify. Issa has no evidence. His subpoena is based on his belief that the Obama administration is guilty. It is clear that the White House isn’t playing these games anymore. Democrats are engaging in a coordinated effort to knock down Issa and his conspiracies.

Issa has been on a subpoena rampage since John Boehner took his Benghazi toy away from him. The California Republican is trying to reclaim the spotlight with his increasingly desperate and abusive subpoenas. Darrell Issa is in full-blown tantrum mode and President Obama just sent him to bed without supper.

Jason Easley

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