House Republicans vote to hold former IRS official in contempt
Washington (CNN) The Republican-led House Oversight Committee voted 21-12 Thursday to charge former IRS official Lois Lerner with contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about the agency's targeting of conservative and other groups. The vote sets up a full debate on the House floor, followed by possible court battle over the Fifth Amendment and a potential standoff with the Justice Department.
"This is not something that I take lightly, said Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa of California. We cannot tell the American people we have done all we can do to get to the truth in this investigation if we give a pass to a critical witness like Ms. Lerner.
Issa has spent nearly a year investigating why the agency used conservative political terms like "Tea Party" and patriot to flag some applications for tax-exempt status.
What is this about? asked Rep. John Mica, Republican of Florida, This is about one of the most fundamental abuses I have seen in my lifetime. About trying to skew an election.
Republicans believe that Lerner personally tried to block conservative groups, including Karl Roves Crossroads GPS, from getting tax-exempt status when she ran the IRS division in charge of making tax-exempt decisions. The Republican investigation has sought to determine if White House officials were involved as well.
Democrats point out that liberal groups were also flagged by the IRS, with the the term "progressive" appearing on a watch list.
Lerners attorney responded quickly to the vote, calling it a political maneuver.
The vote is the latest event in the majoritys never-ending effort to keep the IRS story alive through this falls mid-term elections, said William Taylor in a written statement.
But some of the most fiery debate at the meeting was not about the investigation, but instead about Lerners own Constitutional rights.
Ms. Lerner has invoked her Consitutional right to remain silent under the Fifth Amendment and thats it, said Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Democrat of New York, The end.
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House Republicans vote to hold former IRS official in contempt