During Darrell Issa’s second go-round, he raised an issue that no other member of Congress did: Prince’s long family ties to the GOP. Only Issa didn’t make the point he wanted to.
Prince seemed uncomfortable about the line of questioning, and confused about its source being a Republican. Was his sister, Betsy DeVos, a “large contributor” to President Bush? “Probably.” Did she attend the Republican National Convention in 2000 and 2004? “Probably did.” Is it generally the case that his family is known as a Republican family? He paused. “Yes.” And is he aware that Blackwater is known as a Republican company?
“Blackwater’s not a partisan company,” Prince said. “We execute the mission given us. … Yes, I have given individual political contributions in college, and when I was a member of the active-duty armed services, and probably will in the future.” He said he “did not give up that right when I became a defense contractor.”
Issa ran out of time, but scrambled to say that he was trying to make the point that “labeling some company as Republican” because of a family’s background “is inappropriate.” To laughter, Waxman replied, “The only one doing that is you!”
