Plouffe's tweets referred to charges that Issa had once stolen a car. | AP Photos Plouffe rips Issa as being 'loose ethically'

Former White House senior adviser David Plouffe took to Twitter to question Rep. Darrell Issa’s ethics after the California Republican trashed press secretary Jay Carney.

“Strong words from Mr Grand Theft Auto and suspected arsonist/insurance swindler. And loose ethically today,” Plouffe tweeted on Sunday, linking to a video of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman on CNN’s “State of the Union” calling Carney a “paid liar” who was “making things up” about the IRS scandal.


Issa has been one of the leading voices in Congress criticizing the White House over the scandal, in which an IRS inspector general found that employees targeted nonprofits applying for tax-exempt status for more scrutiny if they included words like “tea party” or “patriot” in their tax documents.

( PHOTOS: 10 slams on the IRS)

Issa is a successful businessman whose is the nation’s largest manufacturer of anti-theft devices in vehicles. Though he and his brother were charged with stealing a car in the 1970s, prosecutors later dropped charges, and Issa said he was a victim in the incident, according to a New Yorker profile of Issa from 2011. After a suspicious fire at his business’s factory, the company’s former owner said he suspected Issa set the fire for insurance, but a cause of the fire was never determined and no charges were filed, according to the profile.

In a statement to CNN, which first reported the tweets, Issa’s spokesman focused on the IRS scandal.

“Looks like the chairman hit a nerve today. Hopefully President [Barack] Obama follows Plouffe on Twitter and may finally see some information from a senior adviser about what’s going on at the IRS,” Frederick Hill told CNN.