Tell Rep. Issa he owes us a hearing.
Tell Rep. Issa he owes us a hearing.
When Rep. Issa took the reigns of the Oversight Committee, he promised a hearing a day. But he cancelled a hearing on the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) at the last minute because his staff found documents that "didn't fit the narrative." We don't need a narrative to investigate this issue. Sign this letter to Issa to demand a hearing.
Chairman Issa,
A subcommittee hearing entitled 'What Went Wrong At The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission?' and scheduled for July 13 was cancelled at the last minute. According to media reports, your staff explained that it was because "they had found some documents at the last minute that didn't fit the narrative."
We do not believe that effective oversight can hinge on fitting any particular narrative, or that accountability can play favorites. A report by committee minority staff entitled "An Examination of Attacks Against the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission," released the same day as the scheduled hearing, July 13, outlines a number of concerns about the behavior of several commissioners.
It uncovers violations of the commission’s ethics policy, inaccurate testimony before Congress, and troubling biases. You have previously pursued investigations and hearings over possible ethics violations, testimony before Congress you felt may be inaccurate, bias and conflicts of interest for other government officials.
But in those cases, the officials being investigated or questioned have been members of the Obama Administration. Before officially taking the chairmanship of the Oversight Committee, you told the nation that “the enemy is the bureaucracy, not necessarily the current occupant of the White House.” We call on you now to pursue accountability without partisan bias -- as you promised.
In November, you called for a “new level of scrutiny and demands for transparency“ on Wall Street, and hoped that those of us on Main Street would “benefit from this new degree of openness and accountability.” You pledged to “continue to fight for their right to know.”
Our right to know isn’t restricted to what fits your narrative, and you owe us a hearing into new questions about members of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission.
Sincerely,
We, the undersigned