Jake Sherman and I report on the main site:
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) took the rare step of demanding a retraction of a New York Times story that alleged he helped his personal business interests in the course of his work as a top ranking Republican lawmaker from suburban San Diego.
Issa's office blasted reporters with an email this morning alleging that the reporter, Eric Lichtblau, made three major mistakes in a piece about the California Republican: Issa claims that The Times asserted a building he bought went up in value, when it did not; they say Issa went easy on Toyota during congressional inquiries because a company he founded was a supplier to them, when in fact Issa says his Directed Electronics corporation does not have a relationship with Toyota; and Issa's camp says the Times' assertion that his charitable foundation reaped a windfall from a financial holding is false, as he actually lost money on the investment.
Furthermore, Issa's communications director Frederick Hill wrote in a memo to reporters that Lichtblau's reporting that Issa's congressional and corporate offices overlook a golf course is untrue — and they included a video. Hill writes that Lichtblau, a Pulitzer Prize winner, declined to give Issa's staff his editor's contact information.
Dean Baquet, the Times' D.C. bureau chief who is becoming a top editor in New York this fall, said he is looking at Issa's office's complaints."I think if you look carefully at Mr. Issa's complaints, and the story, you will see that there is nothing that gets to the heart of it," Baquet said. "Happy to consider any mistakes they point out, and we are looking at those. But I'm not seeing a need for any sort of retraction."
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