http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/3/house-gop-sets-first-vote-hold-lois-lerner-contemp/?page=all#pagebreak By Stephen Dinan
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The Washington Times
Updated: 1:34 p.m. on Thursday, April 3, 2014
House Republicans said Thursday that they’ll vote in committee next week to hold Lois G. Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about her role in the IRS’s tea party targeting scandal.
Rep. Darrell Issa, the House’s top investigator, said that as a senior official at the center of the agency’s targeting, Ms. Lerner must either talk or face penalties.
“Ms. Lerner’s involvement in wrongdoing and refusal to meet her legal obligations has left the Committee with no alternative but to consider a contempt finding,” he said.
Mr. Issa has scheduled a Thursday vote in the House Oversight Committee on a contempt resolution, which if it is approved would then be sent to the full House floor.
Whether Ms. Lerner could be held in contempt has been the subject of heated legal debate.
Some legal scholars argue Mr. Issa botched a March 4 hearing with Ms. Lerner by not telling her she faced consequences if she continued to assert her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The oversight committee has ruled that Ms. Lerner waived that right because she delivered a statement declaring her innocence before refusing to answer further questions.
But the House’s chief lawyer has written a memo saying Ms. Lerner and her lawyer were aware of the consequences of refusing to testify.
Rep. Darrell Issa, the House’s top investigator, said that as a senior official at the center of the agency’s targeting, Ms. Lerner must either talk or face penalties.
“Ms. Lerner’s involvement in wrongdoing and refusal to meet her legal obligations has left the Committee with no alternative but to consider a contempt finding,” he said.
Mr. Issa has scheduled a Thursday vote in the House Oversight Committee on a contempt resolution, which if it is approved would then be sent to the full House floor.
Ms. Lerner ran the IRS’s division that oversaw nonprofit groups’ applications for tax-exempt status. That’s the branch that reviewed, delayed, and in many cases posed intrusive questions to tea party and other conservative groups who were seeking tax-exempt status.
She was allowed to retire in September, despite the investigation into her behavior, but Congress has obtained a number of emails from her time at the IRS that, Republican lawmakers contend, show Ms. Lerner was intent on stopping conservative groups from using the tax-exempt status to play a role in politics.
Whether Ms. Lerner could be held in contempt has been the subject of heated legal debate.
Some legal scholars argue Mr. Issa botched a March 4 hearing with Ms. Lerner by not telling her she faced consequences if she continued to assert her Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.
The oversight committee has ruled that Ms. Lerner waived that right because she delivered a statement declaring her innocence before refusing to answer further questions.
But the House’s chief lawyer has written a memo saying Ms. Lerner and her lawyer were aware of the consequences of refusing to testify.
In his statement announcing the vote, Mr. Issa said contempt proceedings usually authorize both criminal and civil action.
The House GOP majority has already voted to cite Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. for contempt for his refusal to turn over documents related to Fast & Furious, the botched gun-walking operation that led to thousands of weapons going untraced and ending up in the hands of drug cartels.
Mr. Holder is still refusing to comply with the contempt citation, and that case is ensnarled in court proceedings.
