Issa’s office says there is a little chance that the subpoena will be withdrawn. W.H. asks Issa to drop subpoena

The White House is asking Rep. Darrell Issa to withdraw a subpoena of a senior adviser to President Barack Obama and is offering instead to hold a private briefing on activities in the administration’s political affairs office.

In a letter sent Monday, White House Counsel W. Neil Eggleston offered to brief Issa, a California Republican who chairs the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, on the role of the the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach on Tuesday. That’s one day before the office’s director, David Simas, is under subpoena to testify on potential violations of the Hatch Act.


The Hatch Act prevents executive branch employees from engaging in political races and campaigns. The White House insists the office is in line with the law, while Issa is accusing Simas of leading an organization designed to boost Democrats.

( QUIZ: How well do you know Darrell Issa?)

Eggleston asked Issa to withdraw the request for Simas’ testimony.

“While I am hopeful that we can work together constructively to address your stated interests, your subpoena is not helpful to these efforts. As you know, it has been the view of administrations from both political parties that summoning the President’s most senior advisors to provide public testimony raises significant separation of power concerns,” Eggleston wrote.

But Issa’s office said there is little chance that the subpoena will be withdrawn.

( Earlier on POLITICO: Issa issues subpoena to W.H. official)

Frederick Hill, a spokesperson for Issa, said it is “unfortunate” that the White House is just now offering a briefing after a series of requests from the Oversight Committee.

The White House was “not willing to be forthcoming until we issued a subpoena to Simas,” Hill said. He added that Issa would consider lifting the request if the briefing, scheduled for Tuesday, answers each of the committee’s questions.

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