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

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

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CBS
Benjamin Fearnow
March 5, 2014 10:55 AM

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

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjaw5xvy-oI

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – A House hearing on the IRS targeting of conservative groups erupted into an argument between Rep. Elijah Cummings and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa just moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify in regards to her role in the tax scrutiny scandal.

The spat began as Rep. Issa, R-Calif., stood up to adjourn the hearing, but Rep. Cummings requested to ask a “procedural question.” While making a statement, Issa asked Cummings to yield when the Maryland Democrat became incensed at the California Republican.

“Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a committee like this,” Cummings appealed.

“If you will sit down and allow me to ask a question,” Cummings insisted. “I am a member of a Congress of the United States of America.”

“I am tired of this,” Cummings continued. “You cannot just have a one-sided investigation. There is absolutely something wrong with that, and it is absolutely un-American.”

“We had a hearing. It was adjourned,” Issa responded. “I gave you an opportunity to ask your questions. You had no questions.”

“I do have questions,” Cummings replied, as Issa walked out of the hearing. “Chairman, what are you hiding?”

The argument between Cummings and Issa broke out moments after IRS official Lois Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify about her role in singling out conservative groups for excessive tax scrutiny. Issa and Lerner’s attorneys have continued to debate whether she is still protected from testifying after giving a statement during the previous hearing.

“On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question,” Lerner said in response to multiple questions.

However, emails obtained by Fox News revealed that an attorney for Lerner negotiated whether or not she would testify.

In February, a previous hearing on the same IRS scandal veered off topic when a conservative group personally accused Cummings of harassment.

President of True the Vote, Catherine Engelbrecht, stated that Cummings, “sent letters to True the Vote, demanding much of the same information the IRS had requested” after she filed for nonprofit status and then “would appear on cable news and publicly defame me and my organization,” Politico reports.

Democrats complained that it was absurd for Republicans to give the group a platform to attack a member of the committee as some Republicans attempted to change the subject back to the IRS scandal itself.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2014/...s-un-american/

Issa, Cummings clash at hearing after ex-IRS official Lerner takes 5th

A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

Lerner, who last year refused to answer questions about her role in singling out Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, was called back before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. Though Republicans argue she waived her Fifth Amendment right by giving a statement during the last hearing, Lerner continued to invoke that right on Wednesday.

"On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question," she said in response to several questions.

But ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., got into a heated argument with Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., after Issa tried to adjourn the hearing.

Issa at first stood up and prepared to leave as Cummings said he wanted to ask a "procedural question." In seconds, tensions flared.

"Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a committee like this," Cummings appealed.

Cummings' microphone was then turned off, and then flipped back on again. Issa sat down momentarily, but then abruptly told Lerner she was "released" and said: "We're adjourned, close it down."

Cummings, his microphone again turned off, continued to shout, complaining about the Republicans' "one-sided investigation."

"I am a member of the Congress of the United States. I am tired of this," he shouted.

The clash bared long-running tensions between the Democratic and GOP members of the committee over the IRS probe.

Lerner headed the IRS division that improperly targeted Tea Party and other conservative groups. After publicly disclosing the targeting, Lerner refused to answer questions about it at a congressional hearing last year. Lerner then resigned from her post as the agency’s director of tax-exempt organizations.

Issa and Lerner’s attorneys have argued about whether she is now still protected from having to testify under the Fifth Amendment. Emails obtained by Fox News revealed an attorney for Lerner negotiated over whether she would testify.

Issa claimed Wednesday that Lerner's testimony remains critical.

"Ms. Lerner is uniquely positioned to provide testimony that will help the committee better understand how and why the IRS targeted conservative groups," he said.

Issa warned that the committee may consider whether to hold her in contempt if she continues to stay silent. House Speaker John Boehner later made the same threat.

Last week, Lerner lawyer William Taylor made public a letter in which he told the committee that Lerner would testify on Capitol Hill only if compelled by a federal court or if given immunity for the testimony.

He was responding to a letter from Issa saying, in part, that Lerner’s testimony remains "critical to the committee’s investigation."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014...al-to-show-up/

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'Seeking the truth is the obligation of this committee. I can see no point in going further.' Issa said. 'I have no expectation that Mrs. Lerner will cooperate with this committee, and therefore we stand adjourned.'

After angry objections from ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, Issa cut off his microphone, told Lerner, 'You're released,' and said, 'We're adjourned. Close it down.'

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IRS villain Lois Lerner risks ARREST after pleading Fifth for a second time at IRS tea-party targeting hearing

• The one-time head of the U.S. tax authority's branch overseeing nonprofits won't testify about a years-long scheme to target conservative groups
• Congress has the power to hold her in contempt, try her and imprison her in the Capitol jail
• That power hasn't been used in more than 75 years but used to be common in bribery and other cases
• After the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee quickly adjourned Wednesday's hearing, his Democratic counterpart went 'ballistic'
  

By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 10:46 EST, 5 March 2014 | UPDATED: 11:42 EST, 5 March 2014

Former IRS official Lois Lerner refused for a second time on Wednesday to testify about her role in a scheme to target conservative organizations that applied for tax-exempt status during President Barack Obama's first term in office.

Lerner risks arrest if she is found in contempt of Congress.

The House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee ruled on June 21, 2013 that Lerner, formerly in charge of the IRS's Exempt Organizations office, waived her right to invoke the Fifth Amendment during a May 22 hearing when she insisted in a lengthy opening statement that she had done nothing wrong.

Wednesday's continuation of that hearing was a brief affair, with Oversight Committee Chairman Republican Rep. Darrell Issa adjourning it after Lerner cited the Fifth amendment again and refused to answer questions.

SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO

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Whenever you see this image, tap to view all the images in a gallery

Lois Lerner, former director of the Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division at the Internal Revenue Service, claimed the protections of the Fifth Amendment and refused to testify Wednesday about an alleged years-long tea party targeting scheme

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House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa quickly closed down the hearing after Lerner refused to answer questions

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'I am a member of the Congress of the United States of America! I'm tired of this!' Democratic Rep. Elijah Cumming shouted after the Republican chairman adjourned Wednesday's committee hearing without listening to his statement

'Seeking the truth is the obligation of this committee. I can see no point in going further.' Issa said. 'I have no expectation that Mrs. Lerner will cooperate with this committee, and therefore we stand adjourned.'
After angry objections from ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, Issa cut off his microphone, told Lerner, 'You're released,' and said, 'We're adjourned. Close it down.'

Cummings continued to complain loudly without the aid of a microphone. The Daily Caller published video of the exchange, titled 'Cummings goes ballistic.'

More...

• Disgraced IRS official Lois Lerner insists she'll take the Fifth in ANOTHER congressional hearing -- unless she gets immunity (or a judge orders her to talk)
• IRS planned secret new rules to justify targeting tea party groups two years ago, reveals bombshell email
• IRS lawyer at the center of tea-party targeting scandal told Congress 'I don't recall' – a whopping 80 times!
• Unearthed emails show embattled IRS official knew her agency was secretly targeting conservative groups
• Lois Lerner, embattled official at the heart of IRS tea party scandal, retires with full pension likely worth more than $50,000 as an internal review called for her firing

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution guarantees that Lerner can't be compelled to testify against herself.

But with the committee ruling that Lerner's statements in May disqualified her from leaning on that right, she becomes subject to arrest if she continues to refuse to answer questions – either as leverage to force her to comply, or simply as punishment for thumbing her nose at Congress.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsv6fmXu4gQ

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Tea party activists have insisted that during the 2010 election year, the IRS placed some of their nonprofit groups on hold for more than three years while liberal organizations were quickly given tax-exempt status

Four separate Supreme Court rulings have confirmed the right of Congress to incarcerate Americans for contempt, although it hasn't been done in more than 75 years.

A July 2007 Congressional Research Service Report spells out the process: 'The individual is brought before the House or Senate by the sergeant at arms, tried at the bar of the body, and can be imprisoned in the Capitol jail.'

In June 2012 the full House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt after he refused to hand over documents relating to the botched Operation Fast and Furious gun-running sting.
Holder wasn't arrested, largely because he heads the federal law enforcement agency that would be responsible for taking him into custody.

Lerner's lawyer William Taylor has played a cat-and mouse game with committee Republicans for the past week, at first saying she faced death threats and wouldn't appear, then offering to produce her at a sworn deposition, and at one point saying she would only answer questions if she were immune from prosecution.

Catherine Engelbrech, national coordinator of True the Vote, a conservative group that claims it was targeted by the IRS, the ATF and other agencies, said Wednesday that 'when an alphabet soup of government agencies descended on and investigated me and my family, I didn't have the option of doing what Lerner did today. I had to submit to invasive and aggressive investigations despite the fact that I had done absolutely nothing wrong.'
The sideline spat between Issa and Cummings quickly became the talk of Washington on Wednesday.
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Lerner refused to testify for the second time, opening her up to the possibility of a contempt charge from Congress

Cummings, a Maryland Democrat, tried to prolong the hearing with what he said was a 'procedural question' – but then proceeded to make a statement.

Issa, the Republican firebrand from California, cut off his microphone.

'Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a committee like this,' Cummings shouted as Issa stood to walk out of the hearing room.

'If you will sit down and allow me to ask a question – I am a member of a Congress of the United States of America! I am tired of this!'

'You cannot just have a one-sided investigation,' Cummings continued while Republican staffers left. 'There is absolutely something wrong with that, and it is absolutely un-American.'

Issa returned to tell Cummings, 'We had a hearing. It was adjourned. I gave you an opportunity to ask your questions. You had no questions.'

'I do have questions,' the Democrat said, raising his voice again as Issa left to address a waiting phalanx of reporters.

'Chairman, what are you hiding?'
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...-Congress.html

Contempt of Congress is the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees. Historically, the bribery of a senator or representative was considered contempt of Congress. In modern times, contempt of Congress has generally applied to the refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by a Congressional committee or subcommittee — usually seeking to compel either testimony or the production of documents.

From (one) of the blogs ..

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Darin Walker via Google+
24 minutes ago

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4
Tom Justtom
12 minutes ago

Interesting. What is Cummings beef? Seems to me ho would want her to take the 5th.
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lastchip
1 hour ago

IRS has been used as a weapon of political oppression by the democrat party and the obama administration and cummings speaking about being un-American is laughable 
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Johnny Huffington
49 minutes ago

+cmfluteguy
You obviously dont know what it means to be "welfare"....actually providing a service for payment is not welfare, you asshole pussy. Staying home and doing nothing and collecting a check is whats called welfare, you monkey.
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lastchip
33 minutes ago

+cmfluteguy Note to angry pc/lib/dem/fascist types such as "cumfluteguy" just spouting rage at anyone who dares to differ with their required party line. If u wish to voice a different opinion as a reply, go ahead. But leave the neo-dem hate and attempt to oppress others out or I'll just delete your effort to deflect attention from the crimes of the dem party against the people
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1
Mike Epstein
1 hour ago

Three cheers for Darrell Issa. First Lois Lerner illegally invokes the Fifth, then Cummings wants to make a speech? No way. If she won't speak, charge her with contempt.
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Mike Epstein
55 minutes ago

You've gotta love it. He shuts off the mics. We've taken so much shit from these left-wing loons. Finally, someone is standing up to them. Issa tells the bastard, "I gave you the opportunity to ask a question..." We need to take the Senate so we can shut all of them up and stop them in their process of destroying America and putting the entire free world at risk.
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hihats
1 hour ago

Cummings needs psychotropic medication
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Roger Snowden
1 hour ago

Psychotropic? Sounds like he already is.
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Mark D. Wood
1 hour ago

Oh I'm sure Learner will continue to be forthright and transparent, like the administration she works for.


But seriously. . . 
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coffeefish
1 hour ago

Democrats lie? I think they have gone over to the dark side.
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Loanita Adams
17 minutes ago

It's time to regulate!
Reformed Reinhardt
1 hour ago

Cummings is scum.

True, he gets a pass from the media, his political party, and most of congress because of some historical event that he was part of 50 years ago (which excuses all else, I guess), but he has obviously been using his position to shield the people who were involved in the IRS abuse scandal on behalf of the Obama administration throughout this entire investigation.

The only difference between today and his actions during this whole time is that in his angry and volatile state, he came off as the partisan hack and embodied (beyond all media and Democrat damage control) the investigative saboteur that he truly is.

Good job, Cummings! 
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Jeff Allen
2 hours ago

Rep. Cummings you are a disgrace to this office in Congress. How dare you act like a fool!
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View all 6 replies
drakono82
49 minutes ago

+Stephen Nesbit
Wait, Issa, in leading this hearing, was trying to protect this administration? And Cummings was trying to find the truth and expose the IRS abuse? I know YouTube has a reputation for moronic comments, but...wow.
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Irish Fancy
7 minutes ago

+cmfluteguy
Bugger off.
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drakono82
52 minutes ago

"I'm smart, and I want respect!"
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Dick Tracy
1 hour ago (edited)

Did you see the absolute arrogance and disdain on Learner's face, as if to say, "What now?" Her day is coming. 
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Mike Epstein
54 minutes ago

Amen.
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Dick Tracy
1 hour ago

The face of the Democratic Party.
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MrSkinnn
1 hour ago

Cummings and Learner are an open cancer on the ass of America, as is the whole Demon-cratic party. The Founding Fathers are rolling over in their graves, tyranny is entrenched in the former land of the free, home of the brave.

Issa . . . drop the hammer.
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MrSkinnn
28 minutes ago

"When injustice becomes law, rebellion becomes duty."
- CSA, Civil War
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cmfluteguy
51 minutes ago

No comments about Daryl Issa being the richest man in congress and an ex convict?

Apparently LIE PIG li CONS love super rich criminals. Wow, what a news flash!
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Despiser Despised
4 minutes ago

**Stupid ****ING **** Alert**
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Kara Champion
32 minutes ago

**** Issa Count Dracula Looking Ass..!! The Bigoted Bitch!
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Despiser Despised
5 minutes ago

**Stupid ****ing **** alert**
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Mark Cole
16 minutes ago

Perhaps Mr. Cummings should have a conversation with Harry Reid about how he constantly silences the opposing party by preventing votes, cutting off debate and changing rules in the senate.

I don't blame Rep. Issa. No need to listen to endless, POINTLESS rants that aren't based in fact or reality.

Get a grip Mr. Cummings. You are just a citizen elected to office. NOTHING more is conveyed upon you because you happen to work as a servant of the people.
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Kim Parigoris
1 hour ago

This is pure BS...how long before Cummings claims racism. Bout time Issa stood up.I hope they hold her in contempt
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Mortimer Snerd
2 hours ago

Not a "Smidgen of Corruption." Right. Got it.
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Ken Baker
2 hours ago

Lois Lerner looked more guilty today.
- Her pants were on fire. -
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8
b7022973
1 hour ago

How dare this scumbag divert away from the issue of DEMOCRAT-LED IRS PERSECUTION OF CONSERVATIVE GROUPS to try and distract and go off on a false indignation tirade against Republicans and to praise his obamessiah of a president.
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2
gary inco
1 hour ago

Rope, tree, Progressive.
Some assembly required.
Reply
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2
Despiser Despised
3 minutes ago

Lamp Posts work a treat. Ask Mussolini... Oh you cant... See how well a Lamp Post worked?

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Former IRS official refuses to testify at hearing

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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.

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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.

View gallery

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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

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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.”

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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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsv6fmXu4gQ

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

IRS planned secret new rules to justify targeting tea party groups two years ago, reveals bombshell email

• The IRS was working on a plan to justify targeting some nonprofit groups for special scrutiny as early as 2012, according to a new document
• Republicans demanded answers on Wednesday as the IRS circled its wagons
  
• President Obama said there wasn't 'a smidgen of corruption' in a plan that singled out right-wing groups applying for tax exemptions
• The new timeline shows that the IRS was working to change its rules long before an inspector general report revealed the depth of the targeting
  
• Investigators still haven't interviewed many conservative groups that were denied tax-exempt status while their liberal counterparts sailed through
  

By David Martosko, U.s. Political Editor
PUBLISHED: 13:48 EST, 5 February 2014 | UPDATED: 14:44 EST, 5 February 2014

Republicans clashed with the Internal Revenue Service's new commissioner Wednesday in a Capitol Hill hearing that featured the unveiling a document indicating that the agency planned as early as 2012 to change its rules in a way that justified singling out tea party groups for special scrutiny.

The document, an email from Treasury Department tax policy attorney Ruth Madrigal to a group of IRS officials including the disgraced Lois Lerner.

'Don’t know who in your organizations is keeping tabs on c4s,' Madrigal wrote, quoting an election law blog and referring to the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt groups that were the subject of the tea party targeting scandal, 'but since we mentioned potentially addressing them (off plan) in 2013, I’ve got my radar up and this seemed interesting.'

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Rep. Dave Camp insisted Wednesday that Madrigal's note indicated that new regulations were planned as a 'remedy to the target[ing]' back in 2011 and 2012. 'I’m pretty sure [off-plan] means "hidden from the public",' he said.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THE FULL DOCUMENT

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John Koskinen, the new Internal Revenue Service commissioner, fended off tough questions on Wednesday

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Tea party groups say the IRS targeted them for their political beliefs but the government agency has been slow to turn over documents showing if the slow-walking of tax-exempt applications was a conscious effort to cripple the organizations
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A Treasury Department email unveiled during Wednesday?s hearing shows the IRS considered new rules that would hamper tea party groups a month after the targeting scandal broke

The revelation that the IRS planned two years ago to change the way it approached approving those groups for tax-exempt status is raising eyebrows because it indicates the agency was aware early on that its practice of singling out conservative groups was out of sync with existing regulations.
In November the IRS formalized those plans, raising the hackles of Republicans who say officials are trying to codify the tactics that put right-wing groups applying for tax-exempt status in perpetual limbo while liberal groups were quickly approved.

More...

• Obama accuses Fox of being 'absolutely unfair to him' in second part of O'Reilly interview
• IRS lawyer at the center of tea-party targeting scandal told Congress 'I don't recall' – a whopping 80 times!
• Unearthed emails show embattled IRS official knew her agency was secretly targeting conservative groups
• Lois Lerner, embattled official at the heart of IRS tea party scandal, retires with full pension likely worth more than $50,000 as an internal review called for her firing
• America's tax collectors are STILL targeting tea party groups, IRS agent admits to congressional investigators

The hearing brought out attacks from GOP members of the House Ways and Means committee who grilled newly minted IRS Commissioner John Koskinen over the timeline, saying it proved his agency knew it was acting improperly long before an inspector general report revealed the depth of the tea party targeting program.

That report prompted President Obama to ask for the resignation of Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller.

Republicans in the House Oversight Committee have uncovered evidence that IRS officials in Washington directed a field office in Cincinnati to put a 'hold' on tea party groups' applications, but the scandal has not reached the level of direct White House involvement.


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Not amused: House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp is demanding documents that will show if the IRS moved to change its rules because officials knew they were unfairly targeting conservative groups

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House Ways and Means Oversight subcommittee Chairman Rep. Charles Boustany (L) and ranking member John Lewis sparred Wednesday over the IRS's program that singled out right-wing groups for lengthy scrutiny

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Poster child? Then-IRS Director of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner refused to testify on May 22, 2013 about her part in targeting tea party groups during the 2010 election season

Another subcommittee, in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, will hold a separate hearing on Thursday and has invited Barbara Bosserman, the attorney in charge of the IRS's internal investigation, to testify. She has not said whether she will show up to answer questions.

Attempts to contact Bosserman on Wednesday were unsuccessful. She has attracted conservatives' barbs for her political leanings, evidenced by more than $6,000 in contributions to the political campaigns of President Barack Obama and other Democrats.

President Obama claimed Sunday in a televised interview with Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly that the IRS wasn't engaged in partisan witch hunts of conservative groups during the 2010 election season, despite statistics that suggest otherwise Lermer's refusal to testify about her actions.

'The president claimed there was not "even a smidgeon of corruption" at the IRS,' complained Louisiana Republican Rep. Charles Boustany during the hearing, 'and he blamed the targeting on "bone-headed decisions" by "a local office." Now, this committee has actually investigated the matter, and found otherwise. The president’s staff is either ill-informed or they are misleading him.'

Boustany chairs the subcommittee that held Wednesday's hearing. He and Camp have demanded documents from Koskinen detailing the timeline and process behind the regulatory changes, but the IRS commissioner has pushed back saying that providing the material would 'interfere' with his agency's rulemaking.

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Not 'a smidgen of corruption': In a pre-Super Bowl interview, President Obama told Fox's Bill O'Reilly that the IRS's hands weer clean -- despite ongoing investigations that still might prove otherwise

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Conservatives are still angry about what they say is a White House using the IRS as a political weapon, and point to the Nixon administration for comparison

'Adding insult to injury ... the IRS continues to withhold documents requested by this committee pursuant to an ongoing investigation,' Boustany saud. 'Commissioner Koskinen, turn over the documents your agency owes us and let’s start this relationship on the right foot.'

'I want to be perfectly clear,' said Camp. 'This committee will fight any and all efforts to restrict the rights of groups to organize, speak-out and educate the public, just as unions are allowed to do so.'

'We will get to the bottom of this, and I expect the IRS to produce – quickly – the outstanding documents the committee has requested.'

Democrats on the subcommittee mocked Republicans' efforts to press for answers, framing them as a political witch hunt aimed at Obama during a congressional election year that will determine the shape of Washington politics during the president's final two years in office.

'All of these efforts to tie this to the White House have been fallacious,' said Democrat Rep. Sander Levin of Michigan.

Koskinen indicated that he wants to put the entire matter in the IRS's rear-view mirror.

'Nobody wants this investigation to be completed sooner than I do,' he said during his testimony, adding later that 'I'd like to close the 501(c)(4) issue.'

Tea party groups have complained, however, that investigators – including the politically conflicted Bosserman – have never contacted them about how their tax-exempt applications were delayed for as long as three years while left-leaning groups won near-instant approval.

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Black caucus wants Issa stripped of committee chairmanship for Cummings mike cut

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Mr. Issa is a disgrace and should not be allowed to continue in a leadership role," wrote Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), who leads the Congressional Black Caucus, in the letter to Boehner.

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