How Big A Threat Is Crooked Terrorist Sympathizer Darrell Issa (R-CA) To The United States?

No, we didn't yellow Issa's teeth. He should start using miswak again

Israel has a lot of friends in Congress, and so does the Israeli extreme right Likud Party. Support spans the ideological spectrum from howling right-wing whackjobs like Dan Burton (R-IN), Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Miss McConnell (R-KY) to mainstream conservatives like Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), Jane Harman (D-CA), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and liberals like Alan Grayson (D-FL), Carl Levin (D-MI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Russ Feingold (D-WI). The Arabs, on the other hand, are basically stuck with Ron Paul (R-TX), Lord Boustany (R-LA), and, most of all, Darrell Issa (R-CA).

Last night The New Yorker published a piece by Ryan Lizza, "Don't Look Back," with the substitle everyone in DC has been waiting for: "Darrell Issa, the congressman about to make life more difficult for President Obama, has had some troubles of his own." Lines like "Issa is the most evil man I ever met" will probably not enhance the suburban San Diego congressman's stature. He says he hates gefilte fish, and these days he does all he can to hide his pro-Arab inclinations. He claims he's like Danny Thomas. He's not.

He lost his first electoral campaign-- an attempt to flat-out buy the GOP nomination to run against Dianne Feinstein-- "after a burst of investigative reporting raised serious questions about his honesty and his past. Many politicians have committed indiscretions in earlier years: maybe they had an affair or hired an illegal immigrant as a nanny. Issa, it turned out, had, among other things, been indicted for stealing a car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and accused by former associates of burning down a building."

In 2003, when Darrell Issa was attempting to use his fortune to finance yet another coup in California, extreme right-wing propagandist Debbie Schussel was warning Republicans that Issa is a dangerous Arab plant, in her words "terrorism's Manchurian Candidate."

Issa’s allies are radical Islamists and supporters of terrorism against Americans, Israelis, Christians and Jews.

In a short political career, Issa’s statements and actions consistently defend terrorists, terrorist groups and terrorist sponsor states.

Saudi Arabia’s longtime lobbyist, James Gallagher, contributed to Issa’s campaign in November 2002, and Issa tried to overturn key classified evidence portions of President Bill Clinton’s 1995 counterterrorism bill. Issa is also credited with “declawing” the Patriot Act.

Then, there’s Issa’s dance with Hezbollah, an organization that is on the State Department’s terrorist list and one of the largest components of Al Qaeda. In the 1980s, Hezbollah-- which means “Party of Allah”-- murdered more than 260 U.S. Marines while they slept in Beirut and tortured to death Col. Richard Higgins (in 1990) and CIA attache William Buckley.

Hezbollah endorses “the use of hostages,” “suicide in jihad operations” and “the duty of all Muslims to engage in Islamic jihad if it ensures the ultimate goal [of] inflicting losses on the enemy.”

Less than a month after Sept. 11, Issa visited Syrian President Bashar Assad, praising Hezbollah and lauding Assad’s policies (Syria is on the State Department’s terrorist list).

The Tehran Times and IRNA (Islamic Republic News Agency, the official Iranian news agency) quoted Issa’s statements to Assad in Damascus: “Hezbollah acts legitimately and has never been involved in terrorist activities…. Hezbollah and any other Lebanese group has the right to resist the occupation of its territory…. Hezbollah’s humanitarian and governmental actions were legal…. Such behavior would be customary in any country.”

Issa denies the statements, but as a recent Los Angeles Times cover story demonstrates he has a record of stretching the truth-- about his military record, his criminal history, his business affairs and his political positions.

In November 2001, for instance, Issa told syndicated columnist Debra Saunders he was vehemently against Arabs suing the airlines and government over profiling. At the same time, he told the rest of the press of his plans to introduce legislation to make it easier for Arabs to collect monetary damages for airline and government profiling.

And Issa’s other statements and actions corroborate their veracity:

Less than a month after Sept. 11, in an Oct. 9, 2001, interview with the Beirut Daily Star’s Ibrahim, during a trip to Lebanon, Issa said, “It is Lebanon which will determine whether the party’s [Hezbollah's] activities constitute terrorism or resistance … If [Hezbollah] wants the world to understand that its activities are legitimate, they should say it…. Resistance is a legitimate right recognized [by the U.N.]…. I have a great deal of sympathy for the work that Hezbollah tries to do.” He expressed hope that Hezbollah would “reform” and become a “government” like the P.L.O.

Assad’s state-run SANA (official Syrian news agency) covered Issa’s November 2001 meeting with Assad, quoting Issa as saying: “Hezbollah or any other party has the right to resist occupation.”

Occupation? Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon at least a year before, and the U.S. withdrew over a decade earlier.

Issa’s January 2003 actions regarding Israelis captured by Hezbollah asserted the terrorist group’s moral equivalence with Israel. According to The Guardian of London, per Hezbollah’s demand, Issa asked Israel to allow the Red Cross to see captured Hezbollah terrorists in exchange for interceding with Hezbollah to allow the Red Cross to see four Israeli prisoners held by the group.

On Oct. 31, 2001, the London Arabic newspaper, Al-Hayat, reported, “U.S. Congressman of Lebanese origin Darrell Issa, during his recent visit to Beirut in the mid of October,” conveyed a proposal to Hezbollah leadership to remove Hezbollah from the State Department’s terrorist list and “normalize U.S. relations with” the group. Hezbollah refused the offer.

On May 31, 2003, Issa publicly made a similar proposal to legitimize Hezbollah by giving Lebanon $500 million of taxpayer money to disarm the group and turn it into a political party.

On May 9, 2001, during a House subcommittee discussion of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Extension Act of 2001, Issa praised Hezbollah, “in all candor, for the good things they do, too, the humanitarian, the hospitals, the schools they pay.”

On April 14, 2002, Issa told Fox News Channel’s Rita Cosby that Hezbollah has done “some good things” (and he also praised Yasser Arafat).

In November 2001, Issa told the Financial Times of London, “Hezbollah does in fact have a limited scope. You must differentiate … from other organizations that might have a global reach.”

Global? Hezbollah murdered 86 Jews and wounded hundreds of people in Buenos Aires in July 1994, in addition to murdering Israelis and U.S. Marines and civilians in Lebanon and Iran.

In a Sacramento radio interview, Issa said, “They do supply little old ladies with heating oil in the winter and all kinds of other activities,” characterizing terrorist Hezbollah as a mere “political party” and “farmers,” and adding, “I’d like to see a lot of them just go back to their farms, go back to some honest living.”

Then there’s Issa’s strange respect for Arafat and Palestinian terrorists.

Days after Sept. 11, Issa, during his House International Relations Committee’s discussion of fighting terrorism, tried to draw a distinction between “Palestinian groups that are resisting Israeli occupation” and Al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden.

During his November 2001 trip to the Middle East, Issa told his hometown newspaper, the North County Times, that he was “particularly impressed with Arafat.”

“He is quite a charismatic individual, despite being a very small man and very old,” the congressman said. “He has a wry sense of humor. He gives you food off his plate if you sit next to him.”

Arafat’s personal food taster as your next governor?

In April 2003, Issa spoke of Arafat’s “charm” (also in the North County Times).

Issa’s softness on Syrian-sponsored terrorism is legendary, too. Syria is home to several fugitives, including Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner, Hamas political director Moussa Abu Marzook, Islamic Jihad chief Ramadan Abdullah Shallah and Jamil Al-Gashey, the only surviving perpetrator of the 1972 Munich Olympic massacre-- all wanted and/or indicted in the United States. However, Assad refuses their extradition.

Issa vehemently opposes the Syrian Accountability Act, which imposes sanctions on Syria until it stops sponsoring Hezbollah and other terrorists. Issa said Syria is “cooperative.”

The Reform Party of Syria said Issa “helps Syria with [its] propaganda campaign” and “objects to Mr. Issa’s presence in Syria. The Baath Party of Syria is duping Rep. Issa and using him as a propaganda tool.”

In June 2003, Issa attended the Beirut signing of a major oil deal between Syria and two U.S. firms. The contract states the companies will spend $29 million in Syria and train the state-run Syrian oil company.

Issa hosted a pro-Syrian Capitol Hill event with a pro-Syrian Arab business group. The event was organized by former staffers to Reps. David Bonior and John Dingell, who now lobby for a “change” to U.S. Middle East policy.

After the Iraq War, during one of several frequent Syrian trips, Issa praised Assad, saying, “His word seems to be good.”

As Schlussel has seen Issa in action over the years, she has grown even more worried about the threat he poses to America, pointing out that Issa, whom she calls "Jihad Darrell," is Hezbollah's favorite Member of Congress. It was Schlussel who warned Republicans that Issa refers to the 9/11 tererorist attacks on our country as "simply a plane crash." She insists that her party, the GOP, knows enough about Issa's "pan-jihadist views" to force him to resign from office. She's even written that Issa should be prosecuted as a traitor. "Recently, Israel stripped Arab Member of the Israeli Knesset Azmi Bashara of his immunity from prosecution for urging the Palestinians to attack Israel and copy Hezbollah, its murders and suicide bombings. Israel is prosecuting Bashara, and we should do the same with the treasonous Issa."

Issa, who insists Israel is guilty of apartheid, accuses America's #1 Middle Eastern ally of "wanton violation" of Lebanese country, the country many Republicans accuse him of having a stronger loyalty to than the United States. And Issa was attacked-- literally-- by the Jewish Defense League as a danger to Israel and to Jews.

Since being named chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Issa has had his Wikipedia sight purged of all the mentions of his run-ins with law enforsement, but fortunately Jillian Barclay has captured much of it here and here, despite Issa's Orwellian tactics and relentless scrubbing.

In 1971, Issa was a 17 year old high school dropout who had enlisted in the Army. Records show that while in the Army, he did serve in an exclusive unit for less than six months, but that he was cited for bad conduct, suffered a demotion and accused of auto theft. The San Francisco Examiner ran a scathing article in May of 1998 which helped to derail Issa's then bid for Senate. The article researched Issa's actual military record and compared that to Issa's accounts of his military service and the results were devastating for Mr. Issa. The above allegations were a part of that article.

Further, Andy Cohen, writing for the San Diego News Network, reported on June 4, 2010 that Issa spent six months on a bomb disposal team while in a college ROTC program, which hardly qualified him for elite status.

Lies, open support of Hezbollah, multiple arrests for auto theft and weapons, shady land deals, suspicion of arson, alleged partner shakedowns and firing employees while toting a gun are enough to question the fitness of this Congressman! There is, sadly, for Mr. Issa, more. Mr. Issa made his millions from ownership of Directed Electronics, the largest car security company in the world. The famous Viper alarm carries Issa's own voice. The manner in which Issa obtained the company has been questioned as less than ethical.

Issa reportedly invested $7000.00 in a company called AC Custom, which was owned by Joseph Adkins. Mr. Adkins reports that the company had several millions of dollars in sales yearly. Adkins borrowed $60,000.00 dollars from Issa and used his company as collateral for the loan. When he was late on the repayment of the loan, he says that he asked Issa for an extension and Issa agreed. But a few days after that conversation, Issa appeared in an Ohio court and asked for a judgment of default against Adkins. Issa took advantage of a law in Ohio that allowed a creditor to come into court without notifying the debtor and in that way obtained the judgment. According to Adkins, Issa then phoned him and told him that he was now the boss. Adkins was shocked and to this day claims Issa is a thief who cheated him out of his business.

Shortly after assuming ownership of AC Electronics is when the suspicious fire took place, but not before Issa quadrupled the insurance coverage and removed blueprints and a computer from the premises. The fire was determined to be arson and Darrell Issa is still considered a suspect. It was reported in the Daily Kos that one of Issa's brothers who helped in the clean-up of the fire showed up with the hair singed off one of his arms. For more on Issa and arson, link to: http://dailykos.com/story/2005/1/14/145836/417.

...[M]ore recently, Issa has been buying land and one of the parcels came at a $3 million dollar discount. Last summer, according to an article written by Dave Maass for San Diego City Beat on July 7, 2010, Darrell Issa's company purchased a foreclosed industrial property at the McClellan-Palomar Airport for $8.5 million dollars. The controversy, which has sparked a lawsuit against the bank that handled the sale, stems from allegations that the bank declined other offers that were significantly higher than the $8.5 million paid by Issa. Additionally, the bank is accused of discouraging another prospective buyer from placing an offer on the property. That offer was for $11.5 million dollars, $3 million dollars more than Issa paid.

The case has not been decided yet, but Congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham was brought down by land deals in which the details sound eerily familiar. Cunningham was sentenced in 2005 to 8 years and 4 months in prison. Coincidentally, Cunningham was the Congressman from the 50th district, the next door neighbor to Issa's 49th district.

According to Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen's Congress Watch, "This certainly raises red flags.The property could not have lost $3 million in value in two weeks, so there must be some deliberate or careless pricing of the property that benefitted Issa.” Another coincidence? The watchdog group said the same thing when the odd land deals made by Randy Cunningham were first reported.

According to Darrell Issa's financial disclosure statement, by the end of 2009, he held between $5 million and $15.5 million dollars in investments in Goldman Sachs. After the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a fraud lawsuit against Goldman Sachs in April 2010, Issa launched an investigation, alleging that the SEC may have timed the lawsuit to bolster the Democrats’ push for financial reform. Clearly, Issa is against financial reform. Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington want an explanation, reported the City Beat article.

“The Goldman Sachs thing is the most troubling,” CREW’s Melanie Sloan says. “That he recently invested money with Goldman Sachs and then is making statements protective of Goldman Sachs suggests his views may be informed more by his own financial holdings than Goldman Sachs’ actions.” Conflict of interest? Of course not!

How could the GOP possibly find a better chairman for the House Oversight Committee... unless they wait for Duke Cunningham or Tom DeLay to get out of prison.