Watchdog group CREW has asked the Office of Congressional Ethics to investigate whether Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) violated rules by producing a video that attacks President Obama.
The video, titled “Obama State Dinners: Spend Like He Says, Not Like He Does,” compares Obama’s denouncement of a lavish $840,000 General Services Administration conference in Las Vegas to two expensive State Department dinners that hosted leaders from India and Mexico and included a performance by the singer Beyoncé.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) alleges that Issa, the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, misused government resources for political purposes in making the video, which the group describes as “nothing more than a negative political advertisement against President Obama.”
“The attack ad offers no information about any action whatsoever by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform,” CREW wrote in its letter to OCE.
“In fact, the only purpose of the ad — particularly given its release just days before a hotly contested presidential election — is to attempt to elicit outrage against the president for holding state dinner at a time when Americans are facing fiscal difficulties.”
Issa’s office criticized CREW for having liberal leanings and for defending Democrats while hammering away at Republicans. Issa spokeswoman Becca Watkins said the group's allegations are baseless and that the chairman is in full compliance with House rules.
For more on the video, click here.
