Rep. (R-CA) Darrell Issa: Criminal Past, Suspected Arsonist in Insurance Fraud Scheme

[LVZ]

http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/plouffe-fires-back-at-suspected-arsonist-issa
http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/01/11/report-media-ignore-rep-issas-alleged-criminal/174997
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/17/darrell-issa-new-yorker_n_809841.html

Rep. Darrell Issa's past includes arrests for weapons charges and auto theft, suspicions of arson, and accusations of intimidation with a gun, but you'd hardly know it from the media's recent coverage of the new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. While Issa was substantially mentioned in 15 articles in the nation's largest newspapers since the last election -- including several major profiles -- only one of those articles mentioned any of these allegations. Likewise, interviewers did not ask Issa about his alleged criminal past in any of the cable or network interviews he sat for during that period.

1982: Issa Suspected, But Never Charged, In Arson Incident At Manufacturing Plant. According to the Los Angeles Times: "A suspected arson fire ripped through [Issa's Ohio] manufacturing plant in 1982. No one was ever charged in the fire, but authorities were troubled by a dramatic escalation in the facility's fire insurance just weeks earlier. Even before the blaze was put out, investigators began peppering Issa and his partner with 'crazy questions' regarding their whereabouts before the fire, Issa recalled.&quot Los Angeles Times, 5/23/98)

[sakabatou]

1. I knew he was a douchebag, but a criminal douchebag? That's news for me.

[Psephos]

2. He's an uberdouchebag and self-aggrandizing narcissist, but...he was never convicted.

Arrested, yes; convicted, no.

For what it's worth.

[Liberal_Stalwart71]

3. I'm always amazed by the fact that few people know about Issa's criminal history.