Obama Blasts Darrell Issa for 'Shameless Chutzpah' at La Jolla Fundraiser

LA JOLLA, CA — President Barack Obama on Sunday criticized Congressman Darrell Issa, a Republican from Vista, for having the "chutzpah" to send campaign mailers with the president's image while at the same time calling the Obama administration one of the most corrupt in history.

In the mailer, Issa touted his cooperation with the president on the Survivor's Bill of Rights, a law protecting victims of sexual assault. The mailer includes a photo of Obama sitting at his desk in the Oval Office.

In 2011, Issa called Obama one of the most corrupt presidents in history on the "Rush Limbaugh Show," a statement he partially took back after receiving much criticism, saying he should have parsed his words better. In 2012, however, Issa seemingly doubled down on that statement in a Bloomberg television interview, calling the Obama administration of one of the most corrupt in history.

“This is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me,” Obama said at a private fundraiser in La Jolla on Sunday night for what could be his last trip to San Diego as commander-in-chief. “That is the definition of chutzpah.” He also called the move "shameless."

The dinner was also attended by Issa's challenger Marine Col. Doug Applegate, whom the president acknowledged by name. Obama referred to Applegate as "somebody who knows what it means to sacrifice on behalf of the nation, and somebody who is going to be an outstanding member of Congress."

Applegate is running against Issa in the 49th Congressional district, which was previously a safe Republican district. Since Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for president, his caustic personality, as well as the sexual assault scandals, could potentially turn the district blue for the first time in 16 years. Issa enthusiastically supported Trump at his San Diego rally in May, calling the GOP nominee the next Ronald Reagan.

Obama said Issa's primary contribution to Congress has been to "obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollar on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere."

Issa spearheaded the Benghazi investigations when he was the chair of the House Oversight Committee. The numerous investigations found no wrongdoing in the State Department's response to the attack.

In a statement sent to The San Diego Union-Tribune on Sunday night, Issa said: "I'm disappointed but not surprised that the president in a political speech continues to deny accountability for the serious scandals that happened under his watch where Americans died overseas and veterans have died here at home."

The dinner, held at the La Jolla home of Christine Forester, cost $10,000 and more a ticket per person to benefit the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Forester was on the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities and was a vice chair of his national finance committee.

At the dinner, the president thanked his supporters and recapped major changes since taking office eight years ago.

"We went from the worst economic crisis of our lifetimes to 15 million new jobs and a 5 percent unemployment rate, cutting it in half," Obama told the crowd. "Last year, we saw the largest increase in incomes ever recorded in a single year, and we saw the biggest drop in poverty since 1968."

Also at the dinner was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from San Francisco, and San Diego-area Democratic Reps. Scott Peters and Susan Davis.

Obama also praised Pelosi at the event, saying that whatever success he's had as president he owed in part to her "extraordinary skill, intelligence, acumen, toughness and loyalty."

The president is scheduled to depart MCAS Miramar around 1 p.m. for a short hop to Los Angeles, where he will participate in a taping of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" and attend a pair of fundraisers in Beverly Hills, White House officials said.

-- City News Service contributed to this story. Patch file photo by Renee Schiavone.