Nancy Pelosi

Pelosi Quote Slamming Obama Advisers Is False

Susan Crabtree | October 3, 2011, 3:33PM

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)

Some tough words from Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) about President Obama and his team's communications strategy were raising eyebrows in Washington Monday morning, but that was before Pelosi disavowed the quote and Newsweek's Daily Beast admitted a mistake and retracted it.

"I think you need to talk about how poorly they [the White House] do on message," Pelosi is quoted as saying in a story by Howard Kurtz. "They can't see around corners; they anticipate nothing."

Pelosi's office quickly denied having ever made the comments, and Newsweek/Daily Beast has since issued a broad correction.

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Kurt Bardella

Fired Issa Aide Kurt Bardella Lands At Daily Caller

Benjy Sarlin | April 15, 2011, 12:14PM

It didn't take long for Kurt Bardella, the once fast-rising spokesman for House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa who was fired for sharing reporters' e-mails, to land back on his feet.

Bardella, who left his post with Issa early last month, will become the Daily Caller's new communications director.

"Kurt's talent, energy and experience will be an instrumental part of the Daily Caller's evolution from start-up to news staple," Daily Caller founder Tucker Carlson said in a press release announcing the hire. "As we turn our focus towards covering the 2012 election cycle, Kurt is the first of many new hires we expect to announce in the near future."

In an ironic twist, the move almost represents a direct trade between Issa and the Daily Caller. Issa's new spokeswoman on the Oversight Committee, Becca Glover Watkins, previously worked as a spokeswoman for The Daily Caller, the same role Bardella will now hold himself.

"With the 2012 election cycle already taking shape, there are tremendous opportunities for the Daily Caller to continue to expand their brand and I look forward to working with them to do that," Bardella said in a statement.

Darrell Issa

Oversight Committee Vet: Issa Could Be Headed For Trouble

Benjy Sarlin | March 21, 2011, 9:58AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and David Bossie

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) has been off to a shaky start since taking over as chairman of the House Oversight Committee this year, firing his prominent spokesman Kurt Bardella this month after he was revealed to have shared reporters' emails with a New York Times reporter working on a book.

In his first interview since losing his job, Bardella told the North County Times over the weekend that he had made mistakes. "I did lose my way a little bit," Bardella said. "Certainly, in this case, what I did left people in the reporting community uncomfortable."

David Bossie has plenty of sympathy for Bardella after having held a similar position as an aide to then-chairman Dan Burton (R-IN) during the committee's years-long investigations into President Clinton back in the '90s. Known for his friendliness with the press, Bossie says he had the same role as Bardella in all but title in addition to his duties as an investigator. Like Bardella, Bossie left his position in scandal, resigning after tapes of interviews conducted as part of Burton's Whitewater investigation were found to have been selectively edited to incriminate the Clintons.

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Howard Kurtz

Issa Slaps Down Kurtz Claim That Ex-Aide 'Impersonated' Him

Eric Lach | March 11, 2011, 8:39AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Howie Kurtz

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) tells TPM that he has no reason to believe his former spokesperson, Kurt Bardella, deliberately tried to impersonate him in a conversation with The Daily Beast's Howard Kurtz last year, despite what Kurtz has said.

Last weekend, on his CNN show "Reliable Sources," Kurtz interviewed Politico editor-in-chief John Harris about the bizarre email scandal that cost Bardella his job as spokesperson for Issa. During the segment, Kurtz made mention of his own Bardella incident.

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