AOL News has a new home! The Huffington Post.

Click here to visit the new home of Politics Daily!

Hot on HuffPost:

See More Stories
Politics Daily

Obama Foe Darrell Issa Sets House Oversight Agenda, Targets WikiLeaks

2 years ago
  0 Comments Say Something  »
Text Size
Tom Kavanagh
Tom Kavanagh
Morning Editor
Author Bio »
Contact Author »
Subscribe :
Rep. Darrell Issa, who has been quick to assail the "corruption" of the Obama administration, will be a busy man once the 112th Congress convenes on Wednesday. The California Republican, who will take the reins of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has ambitious plans for that panel, from going after WikiLeaks to investigating Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored mortgage giants.

An outline of the committee's expected hearing topics, reported by Politico, shows that it intends "to investigate how regulation impacts job creation, the role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the foreclosure crisis, recalls at the Food and Drug Administration and the failure of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission to agree on the causes of the market meltdown," Politico said, noting that no hearings are likely to begin until late this month or early February.

Attempts to reach Issa's spokesman for comment were not immediately successful.

Darrell IssaRep. Elijah Cummings, who will be the ranking Democrat on the committee, warned on CNN Sunday against an overly aggressive approach to investigations. Issa, he noted, "will have . . . power to subpoena almost anybody he wants to. And that's a problem when you come to these conclusions before you even bring people in. . . . I think that we're just going to have to be careful with this power."

On CNN's "State of the Union," Issa said the committee won't investigate the Obama administration for offering a job to Democratic Rep. Joe Sestak to keep him out of the U.S. Senate race in Pennsylvania. That comes as something of a surprise given Issa's previous remarks on the subject.

After Sestak revealed last February that the White House had offered an administration job to dissuade him from running against Sen. Arlen Specter in the midterm election, Issa's office issued a statement calling the matter "Obama's Watergate." (Sestak would later win the primary against Specter, but lost the general election to Pat Toomey.)

Sounding a different note Sunday, Issa explained that "we've discovered the problem is bigger than that -- it's bigger than President Obama. Bush's people said, 'We did the same thing.' "

On "Fox News Sunday," Issa took aim at Attorney General Eric Holder for not aggressively investigating the community-organizing group ACORN, failing to go after WikiLeaks and scaling back a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party in Philadelphia.

"He isn't doing enough," Issa said. ". . . So he's hurting this administration. If you're hurting the administration, either stop hurting the administration, or leave."

On "State of the Union" Sunday Issa also backed off from a comment he had made on Rush Limbaugh's radio show that Obama is "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times," saying instead that this administration is "one of the most corrupt" ever.

Tagged: dailyguidance, darrell issa, Elijah Cummings, Eric Holder, fannie mae, freddie mac, president obama, Wikileaks
More articles from Tom Kavanagh »

Our New Approach to Comments

In an effort to encourage the same level of civil dialogue among Politics Daily’s readers that we expect of our writers – a “civilogue,” to use the term coined by PD’s Jeffrey Weiss – we are requiring commenters to use their AOL or AIM screen names to submit a comment, and we are reading all comments before publishing them. Personal attacks (on writers, other readers, Nancy Pelosi, George W. Bush, or anyone at all) and comments that are not productive additions to the conversation will not be published, period, to make room for a discussion among those with ideas to kick around. Please read our Help and Feedback section for more info.

Add a Comment

Sign in »
*0 / 3000 Character Maximum Comment Moderation Enabled. Your comment will appear after it is cleared by an editor.

3 Comments

Filter by:
truthforfreedom

Issa is not a foe, he's a hero. Those saying no investigations, no witch hunts, is a sham, who's talking. What went on in the last 2 years? What this will cost will be nothing compared to what the last administration cost we the taxpayer.

January 03 2011 at 11:21 PM Report abuse -10 rate up rate down Reply
Bill

I think Mr. Issa needs to remember that the AG isn't there to go after republican political targets. Mr Holder isn't hurting the administration, he's not agreeing to be Mr. issa's personal attack dog- big difference.

January 03 2011 at 3:18 PM Report abuse +12 rate up rate down Reply
joe

It is going to be great seeing Eric Holder being put on the defensive because the Justice Department is supposed to be above politics and that is not the case now. I can watch this happen with out not a thread of sympathy because of the zeal in which the Democrats attacked Alberto Gonzales when he was AG. I have long been a fan of Rep. Darrell Issa and have watched as Henry Waxman etal made a mockery of congressional hearings.

January 03 2011 at 3:17 PM Report abuse -12 rate up rate down Reply

Follow Politics Daily

  • Comics
%PostTitle%
robert-and-donna-trussell
CHAOS THEORY
Featuring political comics by Robert and Donna TrussellMore>>
  • Woman UP Video
politics daily videos
Weekly Videos
Woman Up, Politics Daily's Online Sunday ShowMore»
politics daily videos
TV Appearances
Showcasing appearances by Politics Daily staff and contributors.More>>

News From Our Partners