Darrell Issa as he might appear in private



It turns out that a financial backer of Aptera, the company Issa assisted with a loan request, is a major Republican donor and a contributor to Issa. According to GreenVC, one of the investors backing Aptera is the Beall Family Trust. The Beall Family Trust is controlled by Don Beall, the former CEO of Rockwell. Beall, now a board member of Aptera, happens to be a Republican donor in California. A political action committee he helped found and fund, the New Majority PAC, has contributed at least $15,000 to Issa over the years. Beall has given to the McCain campaign, the Bush campaigns, and various party and congressional campaign accounts. As Lucas O’Connor notes, Beall’s profile as a major donor makes him a “good friend to have for any California Republican looking to improve their profile, their influence, or their office.” Beall gave one direct donation to Issa, a $250 check. The donation came just two months before Issa sent a letter recommending the government loan to Beall’s company, Aptera.

Not only is Darrell Issa a flaming hypocrite when he attacks green energy programs, but it turns out he also took fundraising dollars from a financial backer of one of the companies he had recommended for a federal loan guarantee program.

So despite the GOP's best efforts to turn the failure of Solyndra into a political scandal, the only real scandal is that Republicans—for purely political reasons—are trying to block programs that they privately admit would create jobs and help the economy.