House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., has refused to disclose publicly how many investigators he has hired so far, despite his own statements pledging greater oversight of the Obama administration. The refusal to disclose comes as a surprise to those familiar with Issa’s remarks on the need for transparency in government, because it effectively limits the public’s knowledge of the progress on Issa’s efforts to ramp up oversight.
The Examiner contacted Issa spokesman Kurt Bardella requesting the information several times. Bardella would only respond that Issa’s office is interviewing, or that the ratio of majority party staff versus minority party staff would not change. Bardella did, at one point, note that no staffers hired to serve the former Democratic chairman would be hired to serve the Republican chairman.
