Darrell Edward Issa (/ˈaɪsə/ EYESS-ə; born November 1, 1953)[1] is an American businessman and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 48th congressional district.

[7] On September 19, 2018, President Donald Trump nominated Issa to be director of the United States Trade and Development Agency.

[10][11] He placed second in the March top-two primary, advancing to face Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar in the November general election.

In the first incident, a grand jury indicted him for theft of a Maserati, in a complicated scheme with his brother William, but prosecutors dropped the charge.

[24][19] In the second incident, he was stopped for driving the wrong way on a one-way street, and a police officer noticed a firearm in his car's glove compartment; Issa was charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

According to Issa, he and his wife pooled their savings, sold their cars (a 1976 Mercedes and a 1967 VW Beetle) and a BMW motorcycle, and borrowed $50,000 from family members to invest in Quantum Enterprises, an electronics manufacturer run by a friend from Cleveland Heights.

[19] Issa soon turned Steal Stopper around, to the point that it was supplying Ford with thousands of car alarms and negotiating a similar deal with Toyota.

Early in the morning of September 7, 1982, Quantum and Steal Stopper's offices and factory in the Cleveland suburb of Maple Heights caught fire.

[3][19] Issa's first campaign for elected office was in 1998, when he sought the Republican nomination for United States Senate to face incumbent Democrat Barbara Boxer.

He spent $10 million of his own money in the primary, running against California State Treasurer Matt Fong, Congressman Frank Riggs, and three others.

[51][52] In the June open primary, Issa received 51% of the vote to 46% for Democrat Doug Applegate, a retired Marine colonel.

Unusually, President Obama responded to this late campaign mailer by saying that Issa's "primary contribution to the U.S. Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped up investigations that have led nowhere."

[57] The Associated Press finally declared Issa the winner on November 28, citing a small but convincing lead with only a few votes left to count.

[58] Multiple Democrats, including Applegate and environmental attorney Mike Levin, launched campaigns for California's 49th district seat.

In December 2019, Hunter pleaded guilty to campaign finance violations and resigned from Congress effective January 13, 2020, leaving the seat vacant.

Issa placed second in the March 3, 2020, blanket primary and beat Democratic challenger Ammar Campa-Najjar by nearly 30,000 votes in the general election.

It would also have created a Chief FOIA Officers Council charged with reviewing compliance and recommending improvements,[71] and required the federal agency to release the information it disclosed to the person who requested it publicly afterward.

Jewish Defense League leader Irving Rubin was arrested along with Earl Krugel in connection with the plot, which reportedly had focused on other targets before shifting to Issa's office.

[16][91][92] In September 2011, a liberal advocacy and lobbying group, American Family Voices, filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Issa, alleging he had repeatedly used his position of authority on the Oversight Committee to improperly intervene in dealings with Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, and DEI Holdings, all of which Issa is associated with in some way.

These included publicizing documents produced by the New York Federal Reserve Bank in response to a congressional subpoena, publicly exposing the NYFR's secret "back-door bailout" of AIG's counterparties, and cofounding a Transparency Caucus dedicated to "promoting a more open and accountable government through education, legislation, and oversight.

[107] In April 2008, the Daily News reported that Issa questioned federal expenditures pertaining to disability-compensation claims from 9/11 first responders.

"[108] In September 2009, Issa's office released a statement indicating that his comments had been misrepresented and that the questions he asked concerned the then still unpassed bill H.R.

"[109][110] Issa came to national prominence in 2003 when he contributed more than $1.6 million to help fund a signature-gathering drive for the petition to recall California Governor Gray Davis.

But after fellow Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger entered the race two days before the filing deadline, Issa announced that he would not run.

[111] He later said his mission had been accomplished with Davis's recall and that he wanted to continue to represent his district in Congress and work toward Middle East peace.

Issa voted against an amendment, which ultimately failed narrowly, that stated that religious corporations, associations and institutions that receive federal contracts cannot be discriminated against on the basis of religion.

][140] After Issa voted for the AHCA, about 800 people from the organization protested, on the grounds that a significant portion of his voters rely on the ACA.

[140] The group was also unhappy about a photo in which Issa stood "front and center" in tribute to Republicans' success in passing the AHCA.

[140] An organization called Save My Care spent $500,000 to release a series of attack ads against 24 House members who voted for the AHCA, including one about Issa.

[151] The PACT ACT which expanded VA benefits to veterans exposed to toxic chemicals during their military service, received a "nay" from Issa.