GOP Rep. Darrell Issa Slams White House on Transparency
On "Washington Unplugged" Wednesday, host Bill Plante spoke to Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) about the ongoing Toyota investigations, and what the recall of the Lexus GX460 will mean going forward. Toyota has temporarily halted the sale of the Lexus-branded SUV, after Consumer Reports said the vehicle had an unusually high risk of rolling over during turns.
Now Toyota will conduct its own testing of the issue, all while still under investigation for unwanted acceleration in some of its other models. Issa has been critical of Toyota over the last few months, but turned his ire towards the Federal government on Unplugged, saying he was disappointed in the lack of cooperation in securing documents from the White House.
"This is an administration, from the president on down, that says they are going to be more transparent than the last one, that they are going to be different," said Issa. "They need to be different in the direction of more transparency."
Issa said attempts by Democrats in Congress to request documents from the Toyota hearings have been processed immediately, while Republicans asking for the same documents have been rebuffed.
"We're seeing a tendency, an outright direction that if a Democratic leader asks for information they get it," said Issa, "But if a Republican leader asks for it the [Obama] administration is saying, 'go get your Democratic leader to ask for it."'
Issa also spoke with Plante about the possible scandal brewing in Pennsylvania, where has called for an investigation into cliams Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Pa.) claims he was offered a job by the White House in exchange for dropping out of the race against the incumbent Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.).
Also on Unplugged, Plante talked to CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller, who will be honored at next month's White House Correspondent's Dinner with the Aldo Beckman award for sustained excellence in White House coverage.
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