Protection racket
by digby
There have been quite a few people who have mistakenly assumed that Darrell Issa’s turn as lead corruption inquisitor was a blessing because he would have to turn up the heat on members of both parties to maintain credibility on these bipartisan money scandals. Wellll, not so much:
Last Friday at the California Republican Party’s spring convention in Burlingame, CA, Republic Report caught up with Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), who has been leading the investigation into the massive Countrywide bribery scandal. To Issa’s credit, his subpoena requests have revealed that members from both parties received heavily discounted mortgages, waived fees, and other special deals from Countrywide, the troubled subprime lending company that is now owned by Bank of America.
Before, the scandal was almost entirely a Democrat-only affair. Former Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) received a discounted mortgage, and the news may have led to his decision to retire from the Senate in 2010. But in the last two months, it was revealed that Republican Congressmen Buck McKeon, Elton Gallegly, and Pete Sessions were also recipients of VIP Countrywide mortgages.
In previous years, Issa has called the Countrywide mortgage scandal a “bribe.” On an appearance with Fox News, Issa declared, “I call it bribes,” and mocked Democrats for not using the term. In a widely publicized showdown with Congressman Ed Towns, another Democratic recipient of a discounted Countrywide mortgage, Issa referred to the VIP mortgages as “an attempt to bribe” government officials.
So, we asked Issa if he would extend the same language he reserved for Democrats to newly identified recipients of special Countrywide loan deals.
FANG: You’ve called the discounted mortgages an attempt to bribe Congressman Towns. Do you think it was an attempt to bribe people like Congressman Buck McKeon?
ISSA: Well, I know you’re quoting something but you’re not quoting from anything I said.
FANG: I think that was from the Oversight website actually.
ISSA: I never said attempt to bribe. What I said was Angelo Mozilo and Countrywide attempted to influence government at all levels. An important detail.
Yes, it’s an important detail. Attempting to influence government is legal and bribery isn’t. Making a partisan distinction between the two
Counting on Darrell Issa to police corruption in Washington in an unbiased manner is like counting on the Military Industrial Complex to come up with federal spending cuts. It’s fairly sure it’s going to be a self-serving exercise.
I’m hope that Issa keeps protecting McKeon and the rest of the boys, actually. Maybe when they go to jail, which is increasingly likely, he’ll go down with them.
.