Salon is reporting that, contrary to his statement on Fox News last Sunday that Lois Lerner of the IRS would in fact testify, Rep. Darryl Issa (R) California knew that Lois Lerner planned to take the 5th at the IRS hearing yesterday. By doing so, he simply planned a quick committee hearing in order to supply more footage to Fox News of a Obama Administrator taking invoking the 5th Amendment protection against self incrimination.
Issa had once again called former IRS supervisor Lois Lerner to testify before the committee, knowing she was going to again use her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. But what Issa didn’t reveal is that Lerner’s attorney had offered last month to share her answers to the committee’s questions via what’s called a “proffer.” That’s when the subject of an investigation reveals the rough outlines of what they know, which can also help determine whether they deserve immunity from prosecution (in order to get them to share more). But Issa rejected the proffer and staged a show trial designed to have Lerner take the Fifth again, in front of television cameras and a packed hearing room.
What happened next was detailed in my yesterday's
Rec List diary
Once Rep. Issa had Lerner on camera invoking the 5th Amendmend it was time to adjourn and run, denying the democrats a chance respond. Ranking Minority Member Elijah Cummings (D) tried to speak but had his mic cut by Issa, who promptly walked out of the chamber.
On “Politics Nation” Wednesday committee member Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton explained Cummings was going to ask about Lerner’s attorney’s proffer, and that was why Issa shut him down. Issa was trying to “keep us from revealing that we could have learned exactly what [Lerner] would have said,” Norton explained. Cummings’ office confirmed her account.
The second update is provided by Media Matters.
On Sunday, Darryl Issa appeared with Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. During
part of the segment, Wallace showed selective emails from 2010 from Lois Lerner that implied to Fox and Issa that she was part of some conspiracy to cover up the targeting targeting of conservative groups.
What was omitted during the Fox appearance was that the September 2010 emails reveal Lerner counseling her colleagues to be careful not to focus on political activity while examining 501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations. Early in that email chain, which was obtained by Media Matters, Lerner wrote: "My object is not to look for political activity--more to see whether self-declared c4s are really acting like c4s. Then we'll move on to c5, c6, c7 - it will fill up the work plan forever!"
Furthermore, the emails do not appear to be about reviewing organizations' applications for tax exempt status, which is the process the IRS is accused of inappropriately conducting. Instead, the emails reference the "self declarer project," which attempts to review groups which self-declare as tax exempt but do not file an actual application, to ensure those groups are still following the rules. (The "Self-Declarers Questionnaire" which tracks these groups is entirely voluntary.)
More Fallout
From
The Hill
The leader of the Black Congressional Caucus has called for Issa to be stripped of his Chairmanship and forced to apologize on the House Floor.
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that Issa’s conduct in the hearing – including cutting off the microphone of Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) – amounted to “an affront to the expectations of the American people.” Fudge also said she wants Issa to apologize on the House floor.
These two updates were what Representative Cummings was enraged about when he had his mic cut by Issa yesterday. To you Mr Issa- I quote an old movie colonel: