WASHINGTON, D.C. - Responding to House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Edolphus Towns’ (D-NY) latest revelation that he has always supported conducting hearings into the Christmas-day terrorist attempt, Ranking Member Darrell Issa (R-CA) issued the following statement:
“Chairman Towns’ accusation that Committee Republicans are grandstanding and politicizing the security of the American people, while simultaneously latching-on to some self-described mantle of bipartisanship, exudes arrogance and ignores the very language Towns used in a letter to me just two days ago. Chairman Towns says Committee Republicans misread and misconstrued his plan to examine a failed attack while no one has seen a tangible manifestation of this plan. Chairman Towns says I refused to discuss efforts to coordinate committee action, yet nearly two weeks ago, I called Chairman Towns twice to begin a conversation about holding bipartisan hearings and my staff attempted to follow-up. Chairman Towns has still not returned my phone calls.
“I suspect the Chairman’s reversal is more about covering-up his stonewalling that angered both Republican and Democratic members of his committee than anything else. The erratic behavior displayed in letters and statements put out in Chairman Towns’ name displays a disconnect from the reality of the situation and is very troubling."
