Thread: Issa Walks Out Of IRS Scandal Hearing As Cummings Calls Proceedings ‘Un-American’

Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing

Issa said the committee will consider whether to vote to hold her in contempt. Cummings said he does not believe Lerner waived her constitutional rights.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The former Internal Revenue Service official at the heart of the agency's tea party scandal once again refused to answer questions at a congressional hearing Wednesday that quickly devolved into political bickering between Democrats and Republicans.

Lois Lerner headed the IRS division that improperly targeted tea party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status during the 2010 and 2012 elections. She was the first IRS official to publicly disclose the targeting, issuing an apology on behalf of the agency at a law conference in May 2013.

But when she was called to testify before the House Oversight Committee a few days later, she invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. Committee Chairman Darrell Issa recalled Lerner for a hearing Wednesday.

Lerner appeared with her lawyer, but she invoked the Fifth Amendment at least nine times when questioned by Issa.

Issa, a California Republican, quickly adjourned the hearing despite attempts by Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the committee, to make a statement. At one point, Issa said, "Shut it down," and Cummings' microphone was turned off.

Afterward, Cummings, of Maryland, said he wanted to point out that despite Republican claims of a political conspiracy, the committee's investigation so far has not shown any political motivation by IRS agents. The investigation also hasn't shown any links to the White House, Cummings said.

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Former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) official Lois Lerner speaks on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wed …

Last year, the IRS's inspector general released a yearlong audit that found agents had improperly targeted conservative political groups for additional and sometimes onerous scrutiny when those groups applied for tax-exempt status.

The IRS watchdog blamed ineffective management by senior IRS officials for allowing it to continue for nearly two years during the 2010 and 2012 elections.

Since the revelations became public last year, much of the agency's leadership has been replaced and the Justice Department has started a criminal investigation. The IRS has also proposed new rules for handling applications from so-called social welfare organizations.

IRS agents were reviewing tea party groups' applications to determine the amount of political activity the groups were engaged in. Under current rules, groups applying for tax-exempt status under section 501 (c) 4 of the tax code can engage in politics but it cannot be their main emphasis.

Three congressional committees are also conducting investigations, though Issa suggested his committee's investigation may become stalled without Lerner's testimony.

"At this point, roads lead to Ms. Lerner," Issa said after the hearing. Without her testimony, "it may dead-end at Ms. Lerner."

Issa and other Republicans on the committee say that Lerner had effectively waived her constitutional right not to testify at last year's hearing because she made an opening statement in which she said she had done nothing wrong. Technically, Wednesday's hearing was a continuation of that hearing.

Issa said the committee will consider whether to vote to hold her in contempt. Cummings said he does not believe Lerner waived her constitutional rights.

http://news.yahoo.com/former-irs-off...--finance.html

Update: Issa on why he cut Cummings’s mic: “He was actually slandering me at the moment that the mics did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation.”

Video: Lois Lerner takes the Fifth again as Issa cuts off Cummings’s mic

posted at 10:41 am on March 5, 2014 by Allahpundit

Via the Daily Caller, the exciting — I mean it! — conclusion to this weekend’s mystery about whether Lerner was thinking of testifying after all. Answer: Nope. She refused again, which I guess settles the question of whether she inadvertently waived her Fifth Amendment privilege last year by delivering an opening statement before Issa’s committee before suddenly clamming up. At the time, Issa thought that statement constituted a waiver; so did Alan Dershowitz.

Maybe the committee decided it wasn’t worth their time litigating the issue. Riddle me this, though: Why don’t they just agree to grant her immunity for her testimony? Her lawyer’s asked for it before, and her testimony’s certainly more valuable than seeing her go to prison, especially given the ignominy she’s already suffered for her role in the IRS scandal. Maybe Issa and the GOP are worried that conservatives will be angry with them if they let Lerner walk. That’s a small price to pay, though, if she has incriminating info on others up the chain.



Instead, he chose to punish Cummings by ending the hearing in frustration before the guy had a chance to ask his question. Cue the excitement.

Update: Issa on why he cut Cummings’s mic: “He was actually slandering me at the moment that the mics did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation.”

Issa: Rep. Cummings ‘Was Slandering Me’ During IRS Hearing Outburst

After abruptly adjourning his IRS hearing following Representative Elijah Cummings’ (D-MD) vocal criticism of the proceedings, House Oversight Committee Chair Darrell Issa (R-CA) told reporters that Cummings had “slandered him.”

IRS official Lois Lerner invoked the Fifth Amendment in response to Issa’s questions Wednesday morning, following which Cummings demanded time and railed against the “one-sided investigation” that he said was “absolutely un-American.” Issa told reporters outside that he had determined Lerner was not going to answer his questions, and as Cummings was using his allotted questioning time to “make a speech,” there was no reason for the hearing to continue.

“He was talking into a mic in an adjourned meeting,” Issa said. “The fact is Mr. Cummings came to make a point of his objections to the process we have been going through. He was actually slandering me at the moment that the mics did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation.”

“Just because Mr. Cummings would like to have a more convenient truth, doesn’t give him the right to make a speech,” Issa added.

Watch the clip below, via Fox News:

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/issa-rep-...dl9oW68m8HD8jn