GOP Rep Issa Secured Nearly $1 Million In Earmarks Benefiting Real Estate He Owns

[SgtMeowenstein]

I guess Issa will have to investigate himself.

ThinkProgress » Exclusive: Issa Secured Nearly $1 Million In Earmarks Potentially Benefiting Real Estate That He Owns

As Roll Call reported earlier this month, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has a history of blending his personal business interests with his work as a member of Congress. Companies owned by the Issa family, including a firm called DEI (an acronym for Issa’s initials), set up websites to channel users to Issa’s official congressional campaign website. After Roll Call made an ethical inquiry to Issa, he changed the website.

ThinkProgress has discovered more troubling evidence that Issa may have blended his work as a lawmaker with his own business empire. After founding a successful car alarm company, Issa invested his fortune in a sprawling network of real estate companies with holdings throughout his district. One of Issa’s most valuable properties, a medical office building at 2067 West Vista Way in Vista, California, is called the Vista Medical Center, and was purchased in 2008 for $16.6 million. Described as “a long-term investment,” the property was bought by a company called Viper LLC, a business entity operated by Issa’s family that Issa has up to a $25 million dollar stake in.

Around the same time Issa made the Vista Medical Center purchase, the congressman began requesting millions of dollars worth of earmarks to widen and improve the highway adjacent to the building. In 2008, he requested $2 million to expand West Vista Way, the road in front of his “long-term investment,” but only received $245,000 from the government. The next year, Issa made another earmark request for improving the West Vista Way highway next to his building. He earmarked another $570,000, bringing his total to $815,000, to add parking lots, widen the road, add bus stops, improve the sewer system, and other utility work. A map showing the location of Issa’s property, and the road, is below:

Issa has said that an “earmark is tantamount to a bribe.” While Issa has handed out earmarks to his campaign donors in the past, in this case, he appears to be helping himself.

Although the highway project has not begun yet (because of local budget problems), the federal money is allocated through Issa’s efforts. Already, a firm representing Issa’s real estate company is advertising the Vista Medical Building and its “Excellent Access with Freeway Visibility.” As ethics experts have explained, lawmakers should avoid earmarks in the immediate area of their own business interests.

Issa’s highway earmarks not only potentially benefit his multi-million dollar medical office building, they provide better access to his other properties in the area. About 2 miles down West Vista Way from the Vista Medical Center, Issa owns a commercial office building worth over $9 million, as well as an adjacent retail office building. The commercial office building leases to a number of different clients, and Issa’s retail building leases to a Hooter’s. All three properties are on the same highway, which Issa plans to retrofit with taxpayer money.

 

[Sallow]

Darrell "Get away from the Car" Issa..is a pip..

He would later claim his unit had provided security for President Richard Nixon, sweeping stadiums for bombs prior to games in the 1971 World Series, and that he had always received the highest approval ratings during his service.[5] A 1998 investigation by the San Francisco Examiner found that these claims were not true: Nixon did not attend any of that year's World Series games, and at one point Issa was transferred to a supply depot after receiving an unsatisfactory evaluation. According to Issa, the Examiner reporter had misunderstood an anecdote he had related.[3]
<snip>
A fellow soldier, Jay Bergey, claimed that Issa stole his Dodge Charger in 1971 while they were serving together and that, the day after he confronted Issa, the car was found abandoned on a nearby expressway. Asked about this charge in 2011, Issa denied it and suggested it was possible that other soldiers stole the car or that Bergey, whom he claims had a drinking problem, had abandoned it himself while intoxicated."[3]
<snip>
Twice during that year he was arrested. In March, Issa and his brother William were charged with stealing a Maserati from a dealer's showroom in Cleveland. Issa says it was a matter of mistaken identity by the Cleveland Heights police; the case was later dismissed.[3]
<snip>
Before that had happened, in December 1972, police in Adrian pulled Issa over for going the wrong way on a one-way street and, as he was retrieving his registration, saw in the car's glove compartment what turned out to be a .25-caliber Colt automatic handgun inside an ammunition box, along with a military pouch containing 44 rounds, a tear gas gun and two rounds for that. Issa was charged with carrying a concealed weapon; ultimately he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of possession of an unregistered firearm. He was sentenced to six months' probation and paid a small fine.[3].[6
<snip>
A week before he was discharged, he and his brother were arrested again on theft charges. Near the end of 1979, William Issa, who by then had served federal and state prison time for theft, had sold his brother's 1976 Mercedes-Benz sedan to a San Jose dealership for $16,000, giving the dealer an Ohio license with Issa's name on it. Issa had soon reported the car stolen and told the police he had left the title certificate in the trunk.[3] Issa made conflicting statements to police about whether or not he had obtained a second license and also about his brother, whom he had recently seen at Christmas in Cleveland Heights. With the investigator suspicious that the brothers might have conspired to commit insurance fraud, they were indicted. Issa said he had no knowledge of his brother's intentions; William said Issa had given him power of attorney a few weeks beforehand and had authorized him to sell the car. Issa bought the Mercedes back from the dealership for $17,000 in February; in August, the case was dropped.[3]
<snip>
After leaving the military, Issa and his second wife, Kathy Stanton, moved back to the Cleveland area, pooled their savings, sold their cars and borrowed $50,000 from his family to invest in Quantum Enterprises, an electronics manufacturer run by a friend from Cleveland Heights that assembled bug zappers, CB radio parts and other consumer products for other companies. One of those clients, car alarm manufacturer Steal Stopper, would become the path to Issa's fortune. It was struggling badly, and he took control of it by foreclosing a $60,000 loan he had made to it when its founder, Joey Adkins, missed a payment. Adkins remained as an employee.[3] Issa is now worth $451 million. [7]
<snip>
The Ohio state fire marshal never determined a cause for the blaze. The initial theory was that it was electrical, but the insurance company came to doubt the theory when a fire analysis report it commissioned outlined evidence that the fire could be arson. It had exhibited two distinct areas of origin, both with "suspicious burn patterns" but without any "accidental source of heating power."[3] Investigators believed that a stack of cardboard boxes, which had burned in a manner inconsistent with an accidental fire, may have had a flammable liquid spread on them. The black smoke and blue flames generated by the fire strongly suggested the use of a hydrocarbon-based accelerant, and the report said the same mix of four distinct hydrocarbons had been found in samples of burned material taken from different locations in the ruins.[3] Adkins, still employed by Steal Stopper, told the insurance investigators that prior to the blaze Issa had removed not only the company's Apple II personal computer but all hardware, software and manuals for it, as well as diskettes containing all the company's customer records and financial information. He said that silkscreens used by Steal Stopper in the production of its circuit boards had also been placed in a fireproof box. Insurance investigators determined that a short time before the fire, Issa had more than quadrupled Steal Stopper's fire insurance coverage; they were also concerned that they could not determine the source of his initial investment in the company.[3]

Darrell Issa - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the man that calls the Obama "The most corrupt in history". What a laugh.

 

[Trajan]

the ethics comm. should investigate this and pound him. he can take a seat in the cell next to rangel and waters.

 

[Political Junky]

the ethics comm. should investigate this and pound him. he can take a seat in the cell next to rangel and waters.

And next to his own brother.

 

[Mr. H.]

Issa meesa yoosa?

 

[whitehall]

Quit whining lefties. When democrat John Murtha was the king of pork nobody on the left complained. Half a mil for a highway project is chump change. Is that the best the "progressive news" can come up with? Obama just gave away taxpayer funds to promote Brazil's oil exploration. Get a life.

 

[Mr. Shaman]

Quit whining lefties.

"The first decade of the 21st century was tough on the middle class in America. From 2001 through 2007, median household incomes actually fell after accounting for inflation. And as wages stagnated, huge costs such as health care and higher education continued to rise dramatically. And this was even before the onslaught of the Great Recession, which destroyed almost $20 trillion in wealth and nearly 9 million jobs. As a result, from 2007 to 2009, income for the median American household dropped by more than 4 percent, the largest two-year decline in 35 years.

The deep recession also dramatically exacerbated an already hefty federal budget deficit. Now, Republicans in the House of Representatives are trying to solve the latter problem&#8212;the federal budget deficit&#8212;by making the former one&#8212;a middle class still struggling to keep its head above water&#8212;even worse.

Their plan is to reduce government spending on a tiny slice of the federal budget, including many programs on which middle-class Americans depend heavily but which the wealthy can easily live without.

The incredibly sad irony of this situation is that the middle class has been bearing the brunt of this skewed conservative economic philosophy for some time now. Their incomes were falling at the same time that huge tax cuts were being bestowed on the richest 1 percent. Their jobs were disappearing at the same time that taxpayer dollars were being used to bail out the largest banks in the country. And now House Republicans cut their services while simultaneously protecting benefits for oil companies, multinational corporations, and trust-fund heirs."

Republican Budget; Targets Everyone But The Rich​

 

[bodecea]

I guess Issa will have to investigate himself.

ThinkProgress » Exclusive: Issa Secured Nearly $1 Million In Earmarks Potentially Benefiting Real Estate That He Owns

As Roll Call reported earlier this month, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has a history of blending his personal business interests with his work as a member of Congress. Companies owned by the Issa family, including a firm called DEI (an acronym for Issa&#8217;s initials), set up websites to channel users to Issa&#8217;s official congressional campaign website. After Roll Call made an ethical inquiry to Issa, he changed the website.

ThinkProgress has discovered more troubling evidence that Issa may have blended his work as a lawmaker with his own business empire. After founding a successful car alarm company, Issa invested his fortune in a sprawling network of real estate companies with holdings throughout his district. One of Issa&#8217;s most valuable properties, a medical office building at 2067 West Vista Way in Vista, California, is called the Vista Medical Center, and was purchased in 2008 for $16.6 million. Described as &#8220;a long-term investment,&#8221; the property was bought by a company called Viper LLC, a business entity operated by Issa&#8217;s family that Issa has up to a $25 million dollar stake in.

Around the same time Issa made the Vista Medical Center purchase, the congressman began requesting millions of dollars worth of earmarks to widen and improve the highway adjacent to the building. In 2008, he requested $2 million to expand West Vista Way, the road in front of his &#8220;long-term investment,&#8221; but only received $245,000 from the government. The next year, Issa made another earmark request for improving the West Vista Way highway next to his building. He earmarked another $570,000, bringing his total to $815,000, to add parking lots, widen the road, add bus stops, improve the sewer system, and other utility work. A map showing the location of Issa&#8217;s property, and the road, is below:

Issa has said that an &#8220;earmark is tantamount to a bribe.&#8221; While Issa has handed out earmarks to his campaign donors in the past, in this case, he appears to be helping himself.

Although the highway project has not begun yet (because of local budget problems), the federal money is allocated through Issa&#8217;s efforts. Already, a firm representing Issa&#8217;s real estate company is advertising the Vista Medical Building and its &#8220;Excellent Access with Freeway Visibility.&#8221; As ethics experts have explained, lawmakers should avoid earmarks in the immediate area of their own business interests.

Issa&#8217;s highway earmarks not only potentially benefit his multi-million dollar medical office building, they provide better access to his other properties in the area. About 2 miles down West Vista Way from the Vista Medical Center, Issa owns a commercial office building worth over $9 million, as well as an adjacent retail office building. The commercial office building leases to a number of different clients, and Issa&#8217;s retail building leases to a Hooter&#8217;s. All three properties are on the same highway, which Issa plans to retrofit with taxpayer money.

How nice. My neighborhood.....or at least real close.

To add: Issa steps in it regularly and keeps getting elected because...well...he's a Republican. They only elect Republicans here in North County. They even elected a Republican in my district even after Duke Cunningham went to prison. But Issa is laughed at regularly...for his temper tantrums, for his trying to buy the governorship and crying when Ah-nold stepped in and took any chance away from him...for whining about the border checkpoints slowing down traffic and getting them pretty much shut down.

 

[Meister]

the ethics comm. should investigate this and pound him. he can take a seat in the cell next to rangel and waters.

What could you be talking about? Rangel and Waters aren't in a cell. Ohhhh, now I get it, I'm a little slow at times.

 

[jillian]

the ethics comm. should investigate this and pound him. he can take a seat in the cell next to rangel and waters.

What could you be talking about? Rangel and Waters aren't in a cell. Ohhhh, now I get it, I'm a little slow at times.

not to make excuses for Rangel and Waters who were both called before the congress run by their own party, but neither Rangel nor Waters, to the best of my knowledge, was running around demanding "a hearing a day"...

it's like Newt talking about "morality"

 

[Meister]

the ethics comm. should investigate this and pound him. he can take a seat in the cell next to rangel and waters.

What could you be talking about? Rangel and Waters aren't in a cell. Ohhhh, now I get it, I'm a little slow at times.

not to make excuses for Rangel and Waters who were both called before the congress run by their own party, but neither Rangel nor Waters, to the best of my knowledge, was running around demanding "a hearing a day"...

it's like Newt talking about "morality"

It's why I don't trust any politician.