Darrell Issa, GOP’s Six Million Dollar Man? Try $295 Million Dollar Congressman!

Of all the inconsistencies reported by Darrell Issa, maybe the worst is that he guarded then President Nixon during the 1971 World Series Games. According to the Nixon Library, Nixon did not attend the World Series that year. To couple America’s Greatest Pastime with a lie is unforgivable, but with Issa, that little issue may be the tip of the iceberg! 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, past 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 said to still be 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.

Issa buys 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 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.” A coincidence? The watchdog group said the same thing when the odd land deals made by Randy Cunningham were first reported.

Issa Has A Run-In With The Border Patrol!

Whenever Congressman Issa is pressed by reporters to explain past arrests and scandals, he has almost always bristled and brushed off the questions. He has repeatedly stated that he was “just a kid” or that it “was my brother.” He additionally states that these things happened so long ago that he really doesn’t remember the details.

In 1980, when Issa was indicted for felony auto theft, he was 27 years old. In 1982, when he was under suspicion for the arson fire, he was 29 years old. Just a kid? Too long ago to remember?