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Politics Congress Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2013. J. Scott ApplewhiteAP

House Republicans voted Thursday to hold in contempt of Congress the former IRS official at the center of a scandal over the tax agencys alleged targeting of conservative groups.

House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted along party lines to approve a resolution recommending Lois Lerner be held in contempt of Congress. Lerner, who oversaw the IRS division in charge of vetting applications for groups seeking tax-exempt status, came under fire when she admitted the agency had given scrutiny to requests from conservative political groups. The ensuing scandal briefly buffeted President Barack Obama in the early days of his second term, but ultimately fizzled without evidence of a connection to the White House and with revelations that liberal groups were also given scrutiny. Republicans have sought to keep the issue alive, though, and committee chairman Darrell Issa (RCalif.) has sought to compel Lerner to testify about the matter, rejecting her claim to Fifth Amendment protections.

We need Ms. Lerners testimony to complete our oversight work to bring the truth to the American people, Issa said Thursday. Why did she do certain things and who else was involved? The American taxpayers certainly dont get to plead the Fifth and escape all accountability when the IRS audits them.

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the committees ranking Democrat, again decried Republicans for what he called a political witch hunt.

Today this committee is trying to do something even Joe McCarthy did not do in the 1950s, something almost unprecedented, Cummings said before the vote.

The outcome of Thursdays vote was all but predetermined, as Issas GOP-controlled committee has been divided along the issue along stark partisan lines. The full House will have to vote on the contempt citation, but even if that passes its unclear if Attorney General Eric Holder would take any action.

The tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter Wednesday recouting Lerners alleged crimes and insisting the Justice Department has a responsibility to act, and Lois Lerner must be held accountable.

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Republicans Vote to Hold Former IRS Official in Contempt

Two former top aides to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie dont have to give documents about the George Washington Bridge lane closings to state lawmakers, a judge ruled, setting back the legislatures probe into who ordered the traffic tie-ups and why.

Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson said yesterday that forcing Bridget Anne Kelly, an ex-deputy chief of staff, and William Stepien, a former Christie campaign manager, to turn over e-mails and other papers subpoenaed by a legislative committee would violate their constitutional rights against self-incrimination. If lawmakers want the documents as they probe who snarled traffic in Fort Lee, New Jersey, they can give the pair immunity, she said.

If the committee chooses this route, Mr. Stepien and Ms. Kelly would have to comply with the subpoenas in their entirety to avoid being held in contempt, Jacobson said in a 98-page opinion issued in Trenton.

The committees probe, led by attorney Reid Schar, is in a critical phase. Schar claimed Kelly and Stepien are key to answering questions about the lane closures. Jacobson ruled that the committee failed to show that it was engaged in more than a fishing expedition when the subpoenas were issued in January.

Kevin Marino, Stepiens attorney, applauded the dismissal of a frivolous lawsuit to enforce a clearly invalid subpoena.

An investigation commissioned by Christie concluded on March 27 that he had no advance knowledge of a plot to close the lanes by Kelly and David Wildstein, then a Christie ally at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the bridge. They sought to punish the mayor of Fort Lee for unknown political reasons through tie-ups from Sept. 9 to Sept. 12, according to the report by the law firm Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP and its lead attorney, Randy Mastro.

The scandal has damaged Christies popularity as he weighs a Republican run for the White House in 2016.

The opinion, like Mastros report, represents a complete vindication of Bill Stepien, Marino said in a statement. In its zeal to achieve a blatantly political goal having nothing to do with Mr. Stepien, the committee disregarded the fundamental constitutional right of this innocent man.

Michael Critchley, Kellys attorney, said the decision provides a free tutorial on the protections the Fifth Amendment affords all citizens. In a statement, he said the thorough and well-reasoned opinion is a complete rejection of the committees attempt to strip Ms. Kelly of her constitutional rights.

In persuading the judge to dismiss a pair of committee lawsuits seeking to enforce the subpoenas, Kelly and Stepien said they feared a criminal prosecution by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, who is investigating the events at the bridge.

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Ex-Christie Aides Win Fifth Amendment Argument on Subpoenas