[CAPTURE PORTAL] 119TH CONGRESS

// Legislative Integrity Monitor

Goblin House Intelligence

Darrell Issa

Republican · Representative, CA ·48

Score Components

33 ELEVATED

Connection Density 20%

0 → 0

Donor Influence 10%

0 → 0

Silence Risk 25%

10 → 3

Contradiction Risk 25%

100 → 25

Intelligence Volume 10%

55 → 6

Constituency Deviation 5%

0 → 0

Voting Misalignment 5%

0 → 0

% = weight in composite score · Raw component 0–100 × weight = weighted contribution (→) · Sum of contributions = overall score. Hover a row for details.

[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Poverty rate: 5.7%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Homeownership rate: 71.4%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Hispanic or Latino: 30.7%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: White (Non-Hispanic): 58.1%

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Population (2024): 760,621

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[constituency_baseline] Demographic anchor: Median household income: $113,202

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Proposition 3 — Remove Same-Sex Marriage Ban from California Constitution (2024) — passed, margin majority yes

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[constituency_baseline] Ballot measure: Proposition 1 — Right to Abortion and Contraception (California Constitutional Amendment) (2022) — passed, margin 66.9% yes to 33.1% no

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 92 (share 0.12)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 44-45 (share 0.14)

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[constituency_baseline] Dominant industry: NAICS 62 (share 0.17)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: California State University San Marcos (2500 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Palomar Health (Escondido/Poway) (3500 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] Top employer: Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base (nearby) (38000 employees)

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[constituency_baseline] District summary: California's 48th Congressional District covers inland northern San Diego County and portions of southern Riverside County, including communities such as Escondido, Vista, San Marcos, Temecula, Murrieta, and Fallbrook. With a population of approximately 760,621 and a median household income of $113,202 — nearly three

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Voted yea on American Health Care Act (AHCA) (American Health Care Act of 2017 (Obamacare repeal)) on 2017-05-04: Cast the tie-breaking vote for Obamacare repeal, waiting until 215 votes were already on the board before voting. San Diego Indivisible called it a 'betrayal' of 36,400 constituents who relied on the ACA. Issa then attended a Florida fundraiser i

primary · 2017-05-04

Voted nay on H.R. 1319 (American Rescue Plan Act of 2021) on 2021-02-27: Opposed $1.9 trillion COVID relief including $1,400 stimulus checks and expanded child tax credits — benefits that would have aided families in a district where 5.7% live in poverty and median rent is $2,181.

primary · 2021-02-27

Voted nay on Epstein Files Release (Sept. 2025) (Release of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files) on 2025-09-16: Cast the deciding vote to block release of the Epstein files by a one-vote margin, speaking in support of Trump's position. The region's four Democratic members voted for release. By November 2025, the House reversed course and voted overwhelmingly

primary · 2025-09-16

Voted yea on H.R. 3746 (Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Debt Ceiling Suspension)) on 2023-05-31: Voted to suspend the debt ceiling and avoid catastrophic default, joining 149 Republicans and 165 Democrats. A pragmatic vote that avoided economic crisis despite his reputation as a fiscal hawk.

primary · 2023-05-31

Voted yea on H.R. 22 (SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act)) on 2025-04-10: Supported requiring documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote. Critics argue this disenfranchises eligible voters — a notable position given Issa's own history of suing over ballot access. His district has a 30.7% Hispanic population.

primary · 2025-04-10

No connections mapped

Bill	Vote	Date	Alignment
ROTOR Act (aviation safety — required ADS-B tracking technology on aircraft)	nay	2026-02-25	deviating
Release of Jeffrey Epstein investigation files	nay	2025-09-16	misaligned
One Big Beautiful Bill Act	yea	2025-07-03	aligned
SAVE Act (Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act)	yea	2025-04-10	deviating
Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act	yea	2025-01-23	deviating
Laken Riley Act	yea	2025-01-07	deviating
Ukraine Security Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2024	yea	2024-04-20	deviating
Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 (Debt Ceiling Suspension)	yea	2023-05-31	deviating
American Rescue Plan Act of 2021	nay	2021-02-27	misaligned
American Health Care Act of 2017 (Obamacare repeal)	yea	2017-05-04	misaligned

Last contradiction analysis: Never

statement_vs_disclosure 90/100

Platform: "Issa sued Governor Gavin Newsom over an executive order to mail absentee ballots to all registered California voters during the 2020 pandemic, arguing"

Vote: on "Official voting records showed that Issa himself voted absentee 16 times in the 20 years prior to fi"

Issa sued to block universal mail-in voting, calling it 'a recipe for widespread fraud,' yet had personally voted absentee 16 times over 20 years — a glaring personal inconsistency that his own spokesman dismissed as 'no contradiction.'

platform_vs_vote 90/100

Platform: "Issa co-sponsored and voted for a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced federal budget and has campaigned on fiscal conservatism, stating gove"

Vote: on "Issa voted for H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which the Congressional Budget Office project"

Issa co-sponsors a balanced-budget constitutional amendment and runs as a fiscal conservative, yet voted for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act which the CBO projected would add trillions to the deficit — a profound departure from the fiscal restraint he

statement_vs_disclosure 90/100

Platform: "As House Oversight Committee Chairman, Issa championed transparency, calling it essential to holding government accountable."

Vote: on "On September 16, 2025, Issa cast the deciding vote to block release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, sp"

Issa built his national reputation as a transparency crusader as Oversight Committee Chairman, yet cast the deciding vote to block public release of the Jeffrey Epstein files — a vote that directly contradicts the accountability principles he once ch

reversal 60/100

Platform: "Issa declared in December 2025, 'I'm not quitting,' addressing speculation about his political future."

Vote: on "Three months later, on March 6, 2026, Issa announced his retirement rather than face a difficult ree"

Issa forcefully declared 'I'm not quitting' in December 2025, then announced his retirement just three months later after his district was redrawn to favor Democrats — a classic case of a politician reversing course when electoral prospects dim.

Last silence detection: Never

In-person constituent town hall meetings

3344d silent

Expected position: As a veteran congressman and one of the wealthiest members of Congress representing a district with 760,621 constituents, Issa would be expected to hold regular in-person town halls

No donor interests mapped

No constituency baseline modelled

No platform commitments archived

No committee memberships recorded

Scoring Methodology

The Capture Risk Score is a composite 0–100 index measuring potential regulatory capture of elected officials. It is computed from seven weighted components:

Component	Weight	Signal
Silence Risk	25%	Topics where donors have interests but the official is silent
Contradiction Risk	25%	Stated positions contradicted by voting record (recent findings boosted)
Connection Density	20%	Mapped relationships to lobbyists, contractors, interest groups
Intelligence Volume	10%	Documented facts from verified sources (logarithmic scale)
Donor Influence	10%	Distinct donors with interests overlapping committee jurisdiction
Constituency Deviation	5%	Gap between district priorities and legislative focus
Voting Misalignment	5%	Floor votes contradicting stated platform positions

Each component produces a raw score 0–100. The weighted sum yields the overall score. Tier thresholds: Critical ≥ 45, High ≥ 36, Elevated ≥ 22, Moderate ≥ 10, Low < 10.

Officials without at least 2 documented facts, 1 contradiction analysis, 1 voting record, or 1 constituency baseline are marked Insufficient Evidence and excluded from numeric ranking.

Contradiction findings from the last 180 days receive a recency boost. High-severity contradictions (score ≥ 70) receive additional weight.

Full methodology: /congress/methodology

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