Ryan Lizza at The New Yorker has a nice long look at Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the man who will be leading the House committee that promises to investigate the hell out of the Obama administration. It turns out that he has his own history that might merit a little investigating on its own.

Many politicians have committed indiscretions in earlier years: maybe they had an affair or hired an illegal immigrant as a nanny. Issa, it turned out, had, among other things, been indicted for stealing a car, arrested for carrying a concealed weapon, and accused by former associates of burning down a building.

Of course, Mr. Issa and his official biography tell a very different story, and besides, when he can be a guest on Bill Maher’s Real Time and laugh at the jokes about Dan Burton shooting at a melon, how bad can he really be? Yeah, right.