Rep. Cummings: I Was Trying To Help Issa When He Cut Off My Mic

[DonViejo]

CATHERINE THOMPSON – MARCH 6, 2014, 8:00 AM EST

The ranking Democrat on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said Thursday that he was "trying to actually help" Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) get information from a former IRS official when Issa cut off his microphone at a hearing on the agency's screening of conservative groups.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) explained on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that when he asked a procedural question after Issa adjourned the hearing, he was simply trying to get former IRS official Lois Lerner's attorney to provide the committee with a proffer. That agreement would have told the committee what Lerner would have said if she testified during the hearing instead of invoking her Fifth Amendment rights.

"I just looked at the clip and it seems like Chairman Issa thinks he can read my mind," Cummings said. "He forgets sometimes that, quite often, we are as Democrats in this committee left out of the discussions with regard to deliberating and working with trying to get a proffer and those types of things. But he forgets I'm a lawyer and I've been practicing for over 20 years."

Cummings also suggested that Republicans on the committee may have violated Lerner's Fifth Amendment rights when they decided that a statement she gave denying the allegations against her constituted a waiver of those rights. "I think we have to be very careful with people's rights and I don't care who it is," he said. "Tea party or conservative, Republican, Democrat. Everybody's rights need to be protected and I think that we need to do that. And we had legal basis to say that they were not upholding her rights."

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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/cummings_says_he_was_trying_to_help_issa_irs_hearing

[onehandle]

1. Issa 2016

Please.

[MADem]

2. The difference between a Congressional leader who knows what he's doing....

...and an asshole/car thief/arsonist who bought his way into that legislative body.

I really do think it's time to throw that crazy bastard out, by any means necessary. Even if it takes primarying him from the right.

[3catwoman3]

3. I find it very fitting...

...that Issa's car alarm is named The Viper. Describes him perfectly.


D - despicable
A - arrogant
R - repulsive
R- reprehensible
E - ego maniacal
L - lame ass
L - liar

I - insufferable
S - self-aggrandizing
S - smug
A - asshole

[MADem]

4. OMG, I LOVE your "spell out" of his name....

That looks like something that would look sweet on a sign while picketing that scumbag's district office!

Maybe with a snake curled around the words!

[3catwoman3]

6. Thank you. Feel free to...

...spread it around. I have put in it a couple of other threads already. You are the first to comment.

I will have to come up with something for Rudy Giuliani, too. His admiration of Putin's decision making style is infuriating.

I like your sign idea. My artistic talents are limited to word smithing, so someone else would have to do the artwork. Maybe a snake AND a viper. Issa is certainly both

(Interesting incidental observation - the spell check function recognizes Putin but not Giuliani or Issa - )

[11 Bravo]

5. Nice acrostic. Very well done!

[B2G]

7. Why does she keep pleading the 5th?

She did nothing wrong, so I don't get it.

[calimary]

8. Here's something you can do:

Last edited Thu Mar 6, 2014, 02:31 PM - Edit history (3)

darrell issa's district is the 49th California district.

My husband and I BOTH called the TOLL FREE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS (see below, in my sig line) and complained - and guess what? Even identifying as Californians, we were cut off!

I called back and pointed out that I was from one of his cities (Newport Beach) and I STILL got hung up on. Next time, I got shoved over into the message machine. I checked his Facebook page - there are startling posts there from people who are thanking him for telling that Cummings character where to go. OUTRAGEOUS!!!
https://www.facebook.com/darrellissa

Well, the TOLL FREE numbers are below. His district office number is (760) 599 - 5000. You're more apt to get a human person on the end of the line - but if you say anything that isn't complimentary, they'll probably cut you off and send you to message.

From Wikipedia: The district covers the northern coastal areas of San Diego County, including cities such as Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad and Encinitas, as well as a small portion of southern Orange County. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is located within the district.

So there's Newport Beach, Vista, Oceanside, Poway, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Temecula, Bonsall, Fallbrook, Temecula, Perris, Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano (where the swallows would return every St. Joseph's Day).
Vista District Office; 1800 Thibodo Road, #310; Vista, CA 92081; Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone].

Sometimes it helps if you call and say you're from one of those cities. Here's a handy guide for finding zip codes in case you're asked (for proof that you're from there - sometimes they ask what zip code you're calling from):
http://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org
Oceanside: 92054
Carlsbad: 92008
Encinitas: 92024
Poway: 92064
San Clemente: 92672
Capistrano: 92675
Temecula: 92590
Vista: 92084
Fallbrook: 92028
Newport Beach: 92663
Bonsall: 92003
Perris: 92570
Dana Point: 92629

Some details about this fuckwad:
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/mostcorrupt/entry/darrell-issa
http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/01/11/report-media-ignore-rep-issas-alleged-criminal/174997
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/darrell-issa-wealth_n_3786778.html

I'm calling both his Washington and his district offices. You'll likely be hung up on, shoved over to the message machine, placed on extended hold (ignore) or - well, hung up on. But I think we should keep doing it ANYWAY. What he did to Elijah Cummings was HORRID, DISGRACEFUL, REPREHENSIBLE, and DOWNRIGHT UNAMERICAN!!!!
Doesn't matter if you get hung up on. CALL ANYWAY!!!! And then CALL BACK!!!!!!

I found it interesting that with him and his websites, it seems to be a one-way-only communication. They want YOUR information but trying to find theirs is difficult. Whenever you find a "Contact" or "Contact Me" link, it's always a form YOU have to fill out. So I went ahead and did some extra digging. Now you have everything and anything you need. Btw - the district is about 61-and-some percent Anglo. And I think it was something two or three percent African American. Figures. Twenty-some-odd percent Latino, also.

[Cha]

9. Thank you, DV