GOP Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and a leading voice of the Republican opposition, fired his chief spokesman, Kurt Bardella, Tuesday after discovering that Bardella had secretly shared his private e-mail conversations with a
New York Times reporter who is writing a book about Washington’s political culture, the Times reported Tuesday.
In a statement, the California Republican said Bardella had acted improperly.
“It has become clear that the committee’s Deputy Communications
Director Kurt Bardella did share reporter e-mail correspondence with New York Times journalist Mark Leibovich for a book project,” Issa wrote in a statement issued Tuesday. “Though limited, these actions were highly inappropriate, a basic breach of trust with the reporters it was his job to assist, and inconsistent with established communications office policies. As a consequence, his employment has been terminated.”
Issa wrote that there was “no evidence” that internal committee documents or congressional documents were inappropriately shared or that any “official rule violations” occurred.
“The inappropriate information shared with Mark Leibovich appears to have been limited to Kurt’s own correspondence with reporters,” Issa said.
Bardella had apparently been cooperating with for several months with Leibovich, a reporter for the Times who is currently on book leave from his job in the paper’s Washington bureau.
“It’s fair to say that it’s no secret that I’ve spent a fair amount of time with Kurt over the last few months,” Leibovich told the Times. “That’s no secret. Kurt’s been very open. I have no idea what role he will play in the final product. He’s part of an ensemble of characters.”
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