House panel finds ex-IRS official Lerner in contempt

WASHINGTON – A House investigative committee adopted contempt of Congress charges Thursday against former IRS official Lois Lerner for refusing to testify about her role in holding up tax-exempt applications for Tea Party groups.

Lerner, the former IRS director of exempt organizations, has invoked the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to answer questions from the GOP-controlled committee. But the committee ruled she waived her rights by giving an opening statement, answering one question and then refusing to be cross-examined during two days of hearings.

The committee vote to hold Lerner in contempt was along party lines, 21-12. Speaker John Boehner said the House would ratify the action.

"The frustration is, is that the American people have not been told the truth about what happened at the IRS," Boehner said Thursday. "We've been going through all of these hearings, having to hold people in contempt, because they've made it impossible to get to the documents. They have not been forthcoming. They owe the American people the truth. ... And the administration refuses to tell them the truth."

If approved by the full House, the contempt citation still would have to be prosecuted by the Justice Department, which is already investigating Lerner and the IRS. The House could also send its sergeant-at-arms to arrest Lerner and bring her to the floor of the House for a trial, but Congress hasn't used that "inherent contempt" power since 1934.

In a statement immediately after the committee vote, Lerner's attorney said "there is not a court in this country" that would uphold the contempt citation.

"We are not surprised by today's partisan contempt vote," attorney William W. Taylor III said. "The notion that the majority is engaged ‎in objective oversight or fact-finding is pure fiction. The vote is the latest event in the majority's ‎never-ending effort to keep the IRS story alive through this fall's midterm elections."

Democrats opposed the resolution and accused Republicans of McCarthyism. But they also made clear they weren't defending Lerner's actions. Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va. conceded that Lerner was "not a heroic figure," and Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., called her a "midlevel bureaucrat who may have made some bad decisions."

"Lois Lerner is not a particularly sympathetic figure, but Republicans are making her one," said Democratic Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia.

Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said Lerner could still avoid contempt. "Refusal to testify and being held in contempt can be resolved by a witness agreeing to testify," he said. "If Ms. Lerner wants to proffer, my inbox is open every day."

The contempt action was part of a two-pronged GOP prosecution of Lerner this week, as the controversy enters its 12th month.

On Wednesday, another House committee referred criminal charges against Lerner to Attorney General Eric Holder. The House Ways and Means Committee, also by a party-line vote, alleged that Lerner violated the civil rights of conservative groups, lied to investigators about it and put confidential taxpayer information at risk of disclosure.

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