California businessman Darrell Issa came to Washington DC in 2001. Now he joins the list of key Republicans in Congress calling it quits He's led many high profile investigations into corruption and fraud. Along the way, he says he's seen many changes - not for the better. For one, he says party politics and money interests increasingly dominate the agenda. And believe it or not, he's not just talking about Democrats. That's our cover story: Issa's exit interview about money, politics and the swamp.
Sharyl: Do you think party leaders exert too much control over members of Congress and over the agenda in a way that might be motivated by donations and corporate influence and special interests?
Rep. Issa: It happens every day that a lobbyist calls the majority leader, the minority leader, the speaker, and some chairmen or ranking member gets a call saying, "hey go light on that." That kind of influence goes on. Anyone that says it doesn't hasn't been in that position I'd been in.
But before we get to that, it helps to go back to 2011, when Darrell Issa had his most important job in Congress, heading the powerful House Oversight Committee. The first subpoena he issued was in the Countrywide loan investigation.
No comments:
Post a Comment