Obama sandbags on document request by House oversight official as probe expands

Obama snubs Issa on first major document deadline

TheDC Exclusive – The Obama administration snubbed top GOP oversight official Rep. Darrell Issa on his first major document deadline as new chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, sending a short letter promising to comply in response to a major information request that was due Saturday at noon.

But Issa is hitting back Tuesday with a demand key documents be sent in two days.

The Obama snub is the first sign of how the administration will respond to demands for documents and testimony by key officials from Republicans in control of the House now that the GOP holds the power of congressional subpoena.

 

House panel expands probe of info requests

WASHINGTON -- The new Republican chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee cited discrepancies Tuesday between internal government documents and statements by a senior political adviser in the Homeland Security Department about how the government responded to requests for documents under the Freedom of Information Act from citizens, journalists and others.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said he intends to interview the adviser, Chief Privacy Officer Mary Ellen Callahan, and other political appointees as part of a widening investigation into the department's practice of sidetracking hundreds of requests for federal records to top political advisers, who wanted information about those requesting the materials. In some cases the release of documents considered politically sensitive was delayed, according to more than 1,000 pages of e-mails obtained last year by The Associated Press.