Chief GOP investigator doesn't know when to let damning facts speak for themselves

(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Issa Stirs Echoes of McCarthy as Obama's 'Best Friend' in IRS Probe

By Ron Fournier, National Journal
Updated: June 3, 2013 | 11:39 a.m.
June 3, 2013 | 8:47 a.m.

In one brief and repugnant interview, the GOP's chief congressional investigator into Internal Revenue Service abuses cherry-picked evidence, overstated his case, and violated the sacred American principle of presumed innocence.

If that was not enough, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., called White House press secretary Jay Carney a "paid liar," and couldn't explain why. "We're getting to proving it," he said.

Meet the best friend of a controversy-plagued Democratic White House: a demagogic Republican.

In a reminder of how the GOP overreached during the Clinton-era sex scandal, Issa doesn't seem capable of letting damning facts speak for themselves.

Interviewed by a smartly skeptical Candy Crowley on CNN's State of the Union, the California Republican found himself on the defensive from the start.

(More here.)