OFF THE WIRE
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2010/06/darrell_issa_is_a_publicity-cr.html
Motorcycle-Riding Republican Prepares to Let the Subpoenas Fly
No laughing matter.Photo: Politico
If Republicans regain control of the House in midterm elections this fall, California Representative Darrell Issa is promising to "hire dozens of subpoena-wielding investigators" to make good on the accusations of corruption he's thrown at the Obama administration.
"'That will make all the difference in the world,' he told 400 applauding party members during a dinner at the chocolate-themed Hershey Lodge. 'I won’t use it to have corporate America live in fear that we’re going to subpoena everything. I will use it to get the very information that today the White House is either shredding or not producing.'"
Issa is seen as a "clownish figure" by Democrats and even a few Republicans, Politico reports, but "a clown with subpoena power is no laughing matter."
"Issa is temperamentally suited for the role. He doesn’t mind making enemies, he's in a very safe district and he craves publicity. With his slicked-back black hair, his BMW motorcycle and his net worth of more than $150 million, Issa fashions himself a rebel with a cause ... Issa wants to be to the Obama administration what Rep. Dan Burton was to the Clinton administration — a subpoena machine in search of White House scandals."
Burton, who once called Bill Clinton a "scumbag," seems happy to pass the torch: "I’ll take somebody like Darrell Issa to milquetoast any day."
'Darrell Issa has eye on subpoena team' [Politico]
