WASHINGTON — White House Press Secretary Jay Carney laughed off House Oversight Committee chair Darrell Issa's charge that he is a "paid liar" for President Obama Monday.
"I hadn't heard that," Carney said. "That's amazing."
Over the weekend, Issa made the accusation "paid liar" for President Obama during conversation about the IRS scandal on CNN's "State Of The Union."
The comment drew criticism from former Obama officials, including former Press Secretary Robert Gibbs — who called on Issa to apologize — and former top White House advisor David Plouffe, who tweeted his own dig at Issa.
Republican Sens. John McCain and Lindsey Graham have criticized Issa for using the term "liar" to describe Carney.
On Monday, Carney repeatedly said he would not engage in a "back-and-forth" with Issa and defended the White House's handling of the IRS story.
Democrats and Obama allies are enjoying the "liar" fallout, which they say shows Issa is overreaching on the IRS story and exposes Republican lust to use the story to score political points. While they expect the IRS story to go on, Obama's supporters say Issa's Sunday interview seriously damaged Republican chances to turn the story into big political liability for the White House.