Posted on 03/13/2014 12:41:39 PM PDT by smoothsailing
Thursday, 13 Mar 2014
Democrats are rushing to the aid of former IRS official Lois Lerner, saying GOP Rep. Darrell Issa fumbled the opportunity to force Lerner to answer questions about the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, Politico reports.
In a five-page memo from constitutional law expert Morton Rosenberg to Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rosenberg writes that Issa failed to provide Lerner — the former director of Exempt Organizations of the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division of IRS — due process because he did not explicitly inform her that if she failed to answer the committee’s questions, she would face criminal contempt charges.
“At no time during his questioning did the Chair explicitly demand an answer to his questions, expressly overrule her claim of privilege, or make it clear that her refusal to respond would result in a criminal contempt prosecution,” Rosenberg wrote.
.........
Republicans on the panel all but rolled their eyes at the brief.
“I am not persuaded by the legal musings of two attorneys,” said Oversight member Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a lawyer himself. “Uttering certain talismanic words is not required before finding someone in contempt for the failure to answer questions. … Ms. Lerner was not going to answer any questions — regardless of whether she was directed to or not.”
Republican Oversight spokesman Frederick Hill called it partisan and “deeply flawed and at odds with the House’s own expert legal counsel to the committee.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
>> “criminal contempt prosecution”
Congress can use its inherent contempt power and imprison her to coerce cooperation.
Put her in jail, now.
The soulless camel lady to Cummings right creeps me out.
The list, Ping
Let me know if you would like to be on or off the ping list
Who cares about contempt. She must be prosecuted for the actual crime committed.
If this were Nixon in Watergate or Reagan in Iran-Contra, the media would be hysterical in its condemnation of abuse of governmental power. Robert Redford would be doing a movie entitled “All the President’s IRS Agents” and touted for his brilliance. All I hear from them now is . . . silence.
Lerner should also be made to explain why she granted the Barack H Obama Foundation 501(c)(3) status in just 34 days, retroactive 38 months, on a Sunday, June 26, 2011.
Why was the Barack H Obama Foundation handled so quickly? Why was the status made illegally retroactive? What was so urgent that processing was done on a Sunday?
The Barack H Obama Foundation is owned by Barack Obama’s half-brother Malik Obama, a resident alien with documented ties to terrorist organizations. Why was it handled so preferentially?
http://dailycaller.com/2013/05/14/irs-official-lerner-approved-exemption-for-obama-brothers-charity/
http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/obamas-brother-linked-to-muslim-brotherhood/
They sure can, although I’m beginning to think Issa may be more interested in pursuing perjury charges against Lerner, based on the committee report he released on Tuesday.
Personally. I want to see him do both.
Night of The Living Dead.
that’s a woman???
I thought it was an old dude with a very, very bad mullet.
We are being inspected ... Have no fear!
That’s the truth. Removing the slick packaging reveals the filth inside.
Trey Gowdy is great.
Issa and his master Bohener are more interested in political pandering rather than seeking truth or justice in this case. If truth and justice were the goal, where is the special prosecutor and indictments?
The pace of it all is frustrating.
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