Issa Says He Would Have Advised Clinton’s Campaign If She Had Asked

UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 9: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks to the media as he leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Friday Oct. 9, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Rol... UNITED STATES - OCTOBER 9: Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., speaks to the media as he leaves the House Republican Conference meeting in the basement of the U.S. Capitol on Friday Oct. 9, 2015. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call) (CQ Roll Call via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who is engaged in a tough re-election fight now that his district is more competitive, said in an interview published Monday that he would have happily advised Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

“I would’ve said the same thing if Hillary Clinton’s people had called me the same day. Why wouldn’t you?” he told Politico when asked about his position as national security adviser to the Donald Trump campaign.

Issa, the former chair of the House Oversight Committee, said that he’s always tried to operate in a bipartisan manner.

“There’s also been a partisan side and a nonpartisan side,” he told Politico. “I’ve never changed.”

His comments follow a recent mailer from his campaign that touted a bill sponsored by Issa and signed by President Obama, an apparent attempt to paint Issa as someone who works across the aisle.

Obama called Issa out on the mailer at a fundraiser last week, calling the move “shameless.”

“That is the definition of chutzpah,” the President said, later adding that Issa’s “primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollar on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere.”

In response, Issa blasted Obama for “serious scandals that happened under his watch where Americans died overseas and veterans have died here at home.”

“You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks I’ve done too much to hold Washington accountable. I’ve worked with the administration on good legislation where it was possible, and called out wrongdoing wherever I saw it, and will continue to do so,” the congressman said in a statement.

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