that goes into detail about various claims by Republican congressman Darrell Issa, and how they stack up against what they found out. Issa, for those who don't know, was a significant financial backer of the Gray Davis recall in California, and is running for governor (if the recall is approved). We thought a table would be a useful way to present the information:
| What Darrell Issa claimed (or his campaign) | | What the Los Angeles Times reported |
| In 1994, Inc. Magazine recognized Darrell Issa as Entrepreneur of the Year. | contradition | Issa has never won the prestigious national award.
In an interview, Issa said that he actually had won a local Entrepreneur of the Year contest in San Diego ... and that he hadn't been trying to suggest that he had received national honors. |
| Issa, ... has said that he was an Army computer research and development specialist. Issa said he had "served at the computer facility" at Ft. Ord's Combat Development Experimentation Command in the late 1970s and that the Army had sent him to the Boston area for computer training at a commercial school. He said he couldn't recall the name of the school. | contradition | ... records and Issa's 1980 Army separation form make no mention of computer training or computer specialty. |
| In a 1995 interview, he said that as an officer | inflated
claim | The extent of Issa's military education as an officer, according to the records, was an eight-week "motor officer" course in 1976 and a four-day "Equal Opportunity United Discussions Leaders Course" in 1978. |
| he had spent four years in the New Mexico desert perfecting electronic warfare techniques that were later used in the 1991 Gulf War. | contradition | His military records ... list Issa's postings during that period as Ft. Riley, Kan., and Ft. Ord, Calif. |
| ... Issa said he had received the "highest possible" ratings in the U.S. Army. | contradition | Military records show that he received a "fair" conduct rating while undergoing basic combat training at Ft. Knox, Ky., in November 1970. In June 1971, while serving with the 145th Ordnance Detachment in Manor, Pa., he received "unsatisfactory" conduct and efficiency ratings. Later ratings were more positive. |
| ... highest evaluation from Gen. Wesley Clark. | agreement | Issa received a laudatory performance review from Clark ... The review praised Issa for the quality of his work and for "an unusually high standard of professional ethics." |
| Issa's campaign literature said he had been a member of Nixon's security detail. | contradition | The Secret Service, of which Issa was not a part, provides the president's security. |
| Issa had previously claimed attendance at the 1971 World Series as part of Nixon's security. | contradition | Records show that Nixon did not attend the 1971 World Series ... |
| Issa's explanation for his claim is that he was part of a military bomb disposal squad that provided support to the White House. He was assigned to Nixon's security on temporary duty, he says. | unclear | The assignment isn't listed in Issa's military records, but temporary duty postings aren't always reflected in personnel files, experts said. |
| During his 1998 campaign, Issa backed away from a claim of having started his car-alarm company "from scratch" ... | contradition | ... The Times reported that he had taken control of the business in a legal dispute with the original owners. |
| | | He has been charged twice with car theft, although both cases were later dismissed. He was charged twice with carrying a concealed weapon. |
| On Jan. 16, 1973, Issa pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of possession of an unregistered gun. Asked earlier this month about that arrest, Issa told a Times reporter that the gun was an "unloaded, never-fired, in-the-box, little teeny pistol" and ... | contradition | Public records obtained by The Times show that when arrested, Issa was carrying a .25-caliber semiautomatic pistol with seven bullets in its ammunition clip, as well as 44 bullets and a tear-gas gun. |
| ... said it wasn't his, although he declined to say whose it was. | contradition | ... Donald Payne, the now-retired police officer from Adrian who was one of two arresting officers on the case, said Issa hadn't contested his ownership of the gun at the time. ... Payne['s] account is backed up by the records from the arrest ... |
| [Issa's profile in the San Diego Tribune included an] account of having turned down an Army offer to send him to prep school and the United States Military Academy at West Point. | possible
contradition | Issa's military records do not reflect an offer by the military to send him to prep school and West Point, although the records would not necessarily do so. Asked Saturday ... Issa responded ..."I was an ROTC-commissioned officer," he said. "That's the end of the story. West Point is an irrelevant part. The prep school at West Point is an irrelevant part." |
