Patterico's Pontifications

4/10/2014

Lerner Contempt Hearing Today

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 7:27 am

Lois Lerner has been referred for a contempt charge for refusing to answer questions posed by the House Oversight Committee, after having made a grandstanding statement in which she denied breaking any laws or doing anything wrong. The vote, to be held by the House Oversight Committee, will take place today. You can watch the proceedings live here. All these votes are happening on party lines, so I think you can expect she will be held in contempt and it will be dismissed as partisan by the partisan Democrats. (The fact that we don’t agree with your correct conclusion makes your conclusion partisan, will be their argument.)

In a separate proceeding, a committee voted (along party lines) to refer Lerner for consideration of prosecution by Eric Holder, himself in contempt of Congress. “You don’t want to go there, buddy!” Here’s the guy who will be deciding whether to prosecute Lerner:

So let’s all hold our breath over that.

Meanwhile, it looks like Lerner and Elijah Cummings may have snuggled up regarding True the Vote:

New IRS emails released by the House Oversight Committee show staff working for Democratic Ranking Member Elijah Cummings communicated with the IRS multiple times between 2012 and 2013 about voter fraud prevention group True the Vote. True the Vote was targeted by the IRS after applying for tax exempt status more than two years ago. Further, information shows the IRS and Cummings’ staff asked for nearly identical information from True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht about her organization, indicating coordination and improper sharing of confidential taxpayer information.

That’s not at issue in today’s contempt hearings, but it’s an indication of why it’s important to hold Lerner accountable. Of course, holding her in contempt and doing nothing to follow up isn’t really holding her accountable, and she won’t really be held accountable, but it doesn’t change the fact that she should be.

P.S. It’s worth keeping this in mind, too:

IRS agents testified before Congress that the agency’s political targeting did not apply to progressive groups as Democrats and the media have claimed, according to a bombshell new staff report prepared by the House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa.

IRS agents testified before Oversight that ACORN groups were scrutinized because the agency thought they were old organizations applying as new ones. Emerge America was scrutinized for potential “improper private benefit.” No evidence exists that the IRS requested additional information from any Occupy Wall Street group.

“Only seven applications in the IRS backlog contained the word ‘progressive,’ all of which were then approved by the IRS, while Tea Party groups received unprecedented review and experienced years-long delays. While some liberal-oriented groups were singled out for scrutiny, evidence shows it was due to non-political reasons,” according to the Oversight staff report, which was obtained by The Daily Caller.

Paging Robin Abcarian! (Who is busy demagoguing the wage gap argument that was overwhelmingly debunked here last night.)

Comments (74)

74 Responses to “Lerner Contempt Hearing Today”

Ding.
Patterico (9c670f) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:27 am
The big problem for the Mob isn’t that they run into trouble with the passive, flaccid Right, but the bipolar, pugnacious Left.

http://ricochet.com/liberalism-eating/

The next target group, the maladjusted and emotionally disturbed, is a Liberal bastion.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 7:47 am
This will go no where, tough the lying old crone deserves to be in federal prison for the felonies she committed.

And Eric Holder is pulling the race card crap… AGAIN.
Colonel Haiku (2601c0) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:13 am
You know, there are a whole lot of people with a lot invested in there never being a Repub AG again, at least not within a lifetime,
though I guess it could be argued that even if there is a Repub and good AG, there is still the bureaucracy to clog up investigations.
MD in Philly (f9371b) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:26 am
The real argument for holding her in contempt is not that she read a statement before invoking the 5th (although that is likely sufficient), it’s that she didn’t invoke the 5th during an interview at the DoJ.

If you speak freely with the only people who can prosecute you, but invoke the 5th with Congress, you are pretty completely in contempt.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:23 am
Others have pointed this out, but the House has the unitary and absolute power to arrest and jail Lerner for civil contempt of Congress.

There are no judges, no DoJ officials, not even anyone in the Senate to consult. The Supreme Court has upheld this power repeatedly, it just isn’t used much (last in 1935).

Just a majority vote of the House and an order by the Speaker and she’s in jail until the end of the session.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:27 am
It’s good to document how our system of government is being corrupted. It won’t change anything, but at least it’s on the record.

At least we still have the power to embarrass them.
Amphipolis (d3e04f) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:31 am
MD,

You are so right about that. The number of people in danger of prosecution by a Republican AG, and the number of crimes they have committed, is monotonically increasing. This suggests that the degree of new criminality that might occur to prevent that from happening is also likely to increase.

The system becomes more brittle that way by the day. At some point, things break.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:34 am
I don’t even ….

One committee first refers her to the DOJ for prosecution, and another one then moves to hold her in contempt for asserting the Fifth Amendment? Really?
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:37 am
The number of people in danger of prosecution by a Republican AG, and the number of crimes they have committed, is monotonically increasing. This suggests that the degree of new criminality that might occur to prevent that from happening is also likely to increase.

I beg your … pardon?
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:39 am
Here’s the guy who will be deciding whether to prosecute Lerner

I don’t believe that’s entirely true.

JURNEY v. MACCRACKEN, 294 U.S. 125 (1935)

MacCracken was tried by the Senate and sentenced to 10 days imprisonment as punishment for past contempt. The SCOTUS held that the Senate had acted constitutionally.

The power to punish a private citizen for a past and completed act was exerted by Congress as early as 1795;4 and since then it has been exercised on several occasions. 5 It was asserted, before the Revolution, by the colonial [294 U.S. 125, 149] assemblies, in imitation of the British House of Commons; and afterwards by the Continental Congress and by state legislative bodies. 6 In Anderson v. Dunn, 6 Wheat. 204, decided in 1821, it was held that the House had power to punish a private citizen for an attempt to bribe a member. No case has been found in which an exertion of the power to punish for contempt has been successfully challenged on the ground that, before punishment, the offending act had been consummated or that the obstruction suffered was irremediable. The statements in the opinion in Marshall v. Gordon, supra, upon which MacCracken relies, must be read in the light of the particular facts. It was there recognized that the only jurisdictional test to be applied by the court is the character of the offense; and that the continuance of the obstruction, or the likelihood of its repetition, are considerations for the discretion of the legislators in meting out the punishment.

Here, we are concerned, not with an extension of congressional privilege, but with vindication of the estab- [294 U.S. 125, 150] lished and essential privilege of requiring the production of evidence. For this purpose, the power to punish for a past contempt is an appropriate means.

Both houses of Congress have the inherent authority to jail Lois Lerner to compel her to produce evidence, and even to try her and jail her as punishment if they find she failed to produce evidence.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:42 am
As i pointed out in one of the many filings in the RICO suit, Obama’s brother’s non profit got approval in a single month.

I am sure that was because his was more meritorious than most.
Aaron "Worthing" Walker (23789b) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:53 am
Btw, OT but Brett Kimberlin had a pretty bad day in court yesterday admitting now to a second forgery of documents. You can read about it, here.
Aaron "Worthing" Walker (23789b) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:55 am
There are two things here.

One committee has investigated and found that Lois Lerner has likely committed crimes, and suggests that the DoJ prosecute.

Another committee asked Lerner to testify, she read a statement under oath then refused to testify further (but interviewed by DoJ officials without such a refusal). They feel that her actions are in contempt of Congress.

There is no conflict, but there is some unnecessary conflation and confusion.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:00 am
I beg your … pardon?

I take it you suggest that Obama issues a blanket pardon to all federal employees for crimes they nay have committed during his administration?

Hard thing to spin.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:06 am
*may
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:06 am
Those are the facts I understood too, Kevin. You don’t see that she has an ironclad Fifth Amendment defense now? Or are you really buying into Trey Gowdy’s BS that the Fifth Amendment is like her hymen and if she waives it once it’s gone forever?
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:13 am
15. Easier than a coup. And only the ones he cannot afford to throw under the bus because of any hold they have on him.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:16 am
“Or are you really buying into Trey Gowdy’s BS that the Fifth Amendment is like her hymen and if she waives it once it’s gone forever?”

nk – How could you talk about hymen breaking? Now Mark is likely to pull some pervy story out of his archive to regale us with hymen breaking practices around the world.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:29 am
23-14: it’s official.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/09/lawmakers-weigh-referring-lerner-case-to-doj-for-prosecution/
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:40 am
someone should make a poopy on her fascist lil head
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:17 am
A question for Lerner’s atty:

“Mr. Taylor, if your client has “done nothing wrong”, then she should be comfortable talking about what she has done, without fear of legal ramifications – which seems to be the avenue that the two of you have taken vis-a-vis the Department of Justice, which has the ability to indict your client, and have avoided with the Congress, which has no such ability.
So, why not release the transcript of your client’s conversation with the DoJ?”
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:30 am
The next target group, the maladjusted and emotionally disturbed, is a Liberal bastion.

You mean like the VaTech shooter, the Aurora theatre shooter, the Sandy Hook shooter, the WaNavyYard shooter, the latest Ft. Hood shooter, and the PA stabber?
And pretty much every mass killer we’ve seen in the last 50-60 years.
Those maladjusted and emotionally disturbed individuals?
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:35 am
The problem in our Capitol is that there are no gibbets, and the lamp-posts are unadorned.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:38 am
nk #17.

She waived it forever when she did not invoke it when being interviewd by DoJ.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/03/06/former-irs-official-lerner-gave-interview-to-doj/

A former Internal Revenue Service official who declined to answer questions at a congressional hearing, citing the Fifth Amendment, gave a full interview to the Justice Department, her lawyer said.

That’s raising questions among Republican lawmakers, who wonder whether her choice to talk to Justice reflects a lack of concern about the DOJ probe. They also question the propriety of letting her avoid questions by lawmakers when she is answering DOJ’s.

The comments by Lois Lerner‘s attorney “cast further doubt on the seriousness of the Justice Department’s so-called investigation of IRS targeting, as well as the legal basis of Ms. Lerner’s refusal to testify before Congress,” said Frederick Hill, a spokesman for committee Republicans. “There is a clear contradiction between refusing to testify based on a supposed fear of prosecution and talking to the prosecutors.”

This is pretty much the definition of “contempt” when she is willing to cooperate fully with the prosecutors but not Congress.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:39 am
23. Those are the ones, Ogabe has ’em in his sights.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:39 am
the lamp-posts are unadorned

I would prefer the word “festooned”.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:40 am
regale us with hymen breaking practices around the world.

Or, God forbid, Sammy.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 11:41 am
As this is playing out, a full House vote to hold Lerner in contempt could be held next Tuesday, with her arrest by the House Sergeant-at-Arms occurring on the same day, April 15th.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:01 pm
By a vote of 21-12, Issa’s committee holds Lerner in contempt, paving the way for a full House vote.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/04/10/house-panel-to-hold-contempt-vote-on-ex-irs-official-lerner/
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:03 pm
I enjoyed listening to the soundbites Democrats like Cummins produced comparing Issa to McCarthy, who like McCarthy is trampling on Lois Lerner’s rights and thus threatening the rights of all Americans. What noble sentiments!

Anybody think this Orwellian construction is going to fly? I don’t.

We’re talking about an IRS official who is refusing to comply with a Congressional committee exercises its constitutionally assigned oversight responsibilities by investigating IRS abuse of power. The IRS that on a daily basis tramples on the rights of all Americans. Lois Lerner gets to plead the Fifth, a right all other Americans give up when they sign their tax return.

I think this is something Americans can understand. The Democrats are trying to cover for a corrupt official so they can continue to use the IRS to beat up their critics.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:10 pm
I am really chagrined with the shabby treatment AG Lemurface received in Congress the other day.

The incivility in our public discourse is lamentable.
gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:10 pm
Cummings accuses Issa of “McCarthyism” just before Issa accuses Cummings of possible collusion with the IRS

“We oppose Chairman Issa’s efforts to recreate the Oversight Committee in Joe McCarthy’s image, and we reject his attempts to drag us back to that shameful era in which Congress tried to strip away the constitutional rights of American citizens under the bright lights of hearings that had nothing to do with responsible oversight and everything to do with the most dishonorable kind of partisan politics,” said the report for committee Democrats, which was released early to POLITICO Pro Tax.

How hard can this be?

“I defer to my Democratic colleagues knowledge of the most dishonorable kind of partisan politics. But Lois Lerner isn’t the victim here. She’s obstructing our investigation into the IRS potentially abusing its authority to engage in the most dishonorable kind of partisan politics. To shut up ordinary citizens who dare criticize the administration they answer to. Our Democratic colleagues need to stop covering for her.”
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:20 pm
gary, you don’t want to “go there”.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:21 pm
32. …The incivility in our public discourse is lamentable.

Comment by gary gulrud (e2cef3) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:10 pm

Yes, gary. That’s why we need the IRS to stomp the public into submission.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:21 pm
Of course Cummings colluded, he wants to keep the IRS looking at HIS political enemies.
He would also have been prosperous in East Germany.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:22 pm
“The problem in our Capitol is that there are no gibbets, and the lamp-posts are unadorned.”

askeptic – Stocks would not be hard to build from scratch. Would not even need blueprints.
daleyrocks (bf33e9) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:31 pm
Sounds good, I think I’ll open up a vegetable stand.
askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:37 pm
Those maladjusted and emotionally disturbed individuals?

you left out all the ones who voted for Obumbles because “SQUEEE!!!!”
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:39 pm
since we’re on the general subject of political integrity, etc, here in this thread, i thought i’d share one of my all time favorite sci-fi novels by H. Beam Piper which covers many of the underlying issues we face today. it’s short, funny and entertaining, while being provocative as well.

Ladies & Gentlemen, boys, girls, trolls and semi-coherent artificial constructs, i give you “Lone Star Planet”

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/20121/20121-h/20121-h.htm
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:47 pm
Sounds good, I think I’ll open up a vegetable stand.

why, is DC a food desert?
redc1c4 (abd49e) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:48 pm
Stocks would not be hard to build from scratch

For bureaucrats, I favor the death of a thousand paper cuts.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 1:15 pm
What’s apparently good for the gander, is not for the goose’

http://www.rightwingnews.com/democrats/obamas-attorney-general-hypocrisy-alberto-gonzalez-vs-eric-holder/
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 1:22 pm
Well, as long as we’re talking about political integrity in general, or the lack thereof, let’s turn our attention to the despicable John McCain.

Yesterday, John McCain laid into John Kerry for being out of touch with reality.

Pals no more: McCain, Kerry trade personal shots during heated Senate exchange

He’s right of course. But Kerry has been out of touch with reality his entire time on the Senate Foreign relations committee.

John and the lovely and deranged Theresa Heinz Kerry dine with “reformer” Bashar al Assad and his wife in Damascus.

The Multitudinous Disasters Of The Obama Administration. Here: On Syria And Iran

Oh wait! Now it’s March 3 so time for something new. The ófficial Syrian press agency reports that Syria’s government opposed an Arab League proposal to support indirect Palestinian Authority-Israel negotiations. Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem asserted that Syria is “no way part” of the consensus supporting the plan.

But guess what? First, Senator John Kerry opened a meeting of his Senate Foreign Relations Committee by erroneously praising Syria as supporting the plan, giving this as an example of Damascus’s moderation. The New York Times quoted from the Syrian report, making it sound like Moallem is praising the United States, but left out the paragraphs attacking the U.S.-backed plan! And the State Department circulated the Times article as proof of its success in winning over Syria when in fact Syrian behavior proved the exact opposite!

Oh, and that’s not all! Not only did Syria oppose the plan but it attacked the Arab states that supported the U.S. effort and blasted the Palestinian Authority for not following the path of resistance, that is urged it to carry out terrorist violence against Israel.

These are just recent examples. Kerry has been wrong about everything since Christmas in Cambodia became seared, SEARED, into his memory.

And what did John McCain have to say at Kerry’s confirmation hearing for SecrState?

McCain, calling Kerry his friend, recalled their common experience as Vietnam veterans and their work in the early 1990s in helping normalize relations with Communist Vietnam and investigating whether American soldiers were still being held in captivity.

He said some of the public hearings they held in Vietnam, where McCain was a prisoner of war for five and a half years, turned into a “circus,” with deep emotions on all sides and a recalcitrant Vietnamese government.

“Through it all John led the committee with fairness to all sides…and unshakable resolve to get a result all members could accept,” McCain said. “It was a masterful accomplishment.”

He added: “I recommend his nomination without reservation.”

This is a habit of John McCain. He confirms failures, then blames them for their failures. When in reality the problem is John McCain failing to do his job and take his advise and consent responsibilities seriously. Of course, as we have seen, he lacks the judgement to do his job. But he also lacks the integrity to just recognize that he’s the problem and just go away.

Information Dissemination – Fact Check: John McCain vs Bob Work

The Senator from Arizona threatened to hold up Bob Work’s nomination for Undersecratary of the Navy and demonstrated that John McCain is a complete fool in the process.

Today the Senator made a big scene, and as long as no one actually fact checks what he said, he might not take a hit for the magnitude by which he was completely wrong today… again, and again, and again.

,,,Second, did Senator McCain really ask if cost overruns are “normal” three times?

…The last 15 classes of US Navy ships have started out with cost overrun problems. For the entire career of John McCain as a Senator, this has been normal by any definition of the word. John McCain is either the most remarkably ignorant Senator on Navy shipbuilding issues in US history, or he’s intentionally acting like a clown. I’ll let you decide.

…How many folks involved in the Littoral Combat Ship program from 2005 – 2008 have been nominated and approved by Senator McCain to become a Flag Officer? The only person in this conversation who was legitimately in a position to hold people accountable for failures in the LCS program was Senator John McCain. The only person in this conversation whose record reflects a positive contribution to the Littoral Combat Ship program problems is Bob Work.

…Senator John McCain today is attempting to publicly slap Bob Work with the LCS program, which makes no sense because every data point suggests Bob Work was part of a team that took a really bad LCS program suffering from enormous cost problems, and clearly turned it around and got it back on track. If the Senator will publicly attack people who do a good job, and the same Senator voted affirmative for promotions to Navy officers who were directly involved in the problems of LCS, the Senator is hardly qualified to pass on judgment regarding qualifications, because the Senator is the one demonstrating clear lack of good judgment.

Who is John McCain to criticize anybody else? How many times have we seen this buffoon on TV, usually accompanied by his mini-me Lindsy Graham, saying the President has the right to assemble his team.

Oh, yeah, it says that right in the Constitution. The Senate shall butt out. Oh, no, wait, it doesn’t.

John McCain sitting in the Senate chamber pretending to take his job seriously.

I’m conflicted. I don’t know if I want McCain to take his job seriously. Based on his past performances he’s just make things worse.

When, Arizona, are you going to stop inflicting this idiot on the rest of us? Please, stop.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 1:29 pm
38. Sounds good, I think I’ll open up a vegetable stand.

Comment by askeptic (8ecc78) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:37 pm

I don’t think it’d be a commercial success. The last time I was in DC there was plenty of rotting garbage lying around that we can throw for free.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 1:34 pm
The money is in selling berries.
mg (31009b) — 4/10/2014 @ 2:27 pm
mg #45 … Dingle-berries ?
Alastor (3fb884) — 4/10/2014 @ 2:52 pm
redc1c4 – one of my favourite SF stories … and one that I re-read from time to time …

The concept of “Practising politicians are *always* in season” just makes so much sense … (And, no, not just in the Kennedy brothers’ or Gary Hart sense !)
Alastor (3fb884) — 4/10/2014 @ 2:56 pm
McCain just does what the voices tell him to do
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 3:35 pm
Thinking of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, Alastor.
But John Dingle Berries is worth more.
mg (31009b) — 4/10/2014 @ 3:37 pm
Mr. feets, I take it my screed about John “Mr. Integrity” McCain is out of moderation?

Gawd, I can not stand that guy.

I didn’t mean to hijack the thread, but since it was about contempt I felt it appropriate. I wanted just slap John McCain as he was dressing down Kerry for being out of touch with reality. Not that Kerry isn’t. But does John McCain own a mirror?

Anyway, hijack off.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 3:57 pm
It’s the Zaporishian Cossack one, Steve, so Cruela is no more,
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:00 pm
Of what I speak;

http://hotair.com/archives/2014/04/10/sebelius-to-resign-as-secretary-of-hhs/
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:07 pm
I vaguely remember Lone Star Planet. To this day, I am still disturbed by the Little Fuzzy stories.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:16 pm
Republicans like Tea Party groups less than Democrats do. That fact does not escape me when I see a strategy practically designed to keep Lois Lerner from talking. The way to get her to talk is with a grant of use immunity. Then she talks or goes to jail until she does or Congress recesses, whichever comes first.
nk (dbc370) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:35 pm
yes you are spot on about him

he’s odious

like pustules and vomit
happyfeet (8ce051) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:46 pm
the whole IRS mess was prespun from the beginning,
the problem is of course, the US atty would not indict, so it’s Kabuki,
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 4:57 pm
The wall street Journal had an editorial and some story about Lois Lerner the other day.

It seems like, after all, Karl Rove’s group, “Crossroads” was affected by Lois Lerner’s personal intervention.

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2014/04/09/lois-lerner-pushed-for-irs-action-against-crossroads-house-panel-says/

The big surprise in the referral letter concerning Ms. Lerner: Lawmakers say she personally intervened to compel IRS actions against Crossroads GPS, the biggest and best-known conservative tax-exempt group in the 2012 election cycle.

The GOP referral letter, signed by Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R., Mich.), says that Ms. Lerner pushed IRS officials to deny an application for tax-exempt status by Crossroads in 2013. Around the same time, she also pushed other officials to audit Crossroads’s activities to date.

“The evidence shows that without Lerner’s intervention, neither adverse action would have been taken against Crossroads,” the letter states.

Editorial: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303910404579490041470592588?mg=reno64-wsj

The most troubling new evidence are documents showing that Ms. Lerner actively corresponded with liberal campaign-finance groups Democracy 21 and the Campaign Legal Center, which had asked the IRS to investigate if conservative groups including Crossroads GPS were violating their tax-exempt status. After personally meeting with the two liberal outfits, Ms. Lerner contacted the director of the Exempt Organizations Examinations Unit in Dallas to ask why Crossroads had not been audited.

“You should know that we are working on a denial of the application,” Ms. Lerner wrote in an email. “Please make sure all moves regarding the org are coordinated up here before we do anything.” The Cincinnati agent assigned to the case at the time, Joseph Herr, noted on his timesheet, “[b]ased on conference, begin reviewing case information, tax law and draft/template advocacy denial letter, all to think about how best to compose the denial letter.”
Mr. Herr had not made any indications in 2012 of an intent to deny the application, nor was any denial recommendation contained in the November 2011 analysis of the group by Exempt Organizations lawyer Hillary Goehausen. Crossroads GPS, which was cofounded by Journal contributor Karl Rove, says it applied for tax-exempt status in 2010 but still hasn’t received formal IRS approval.

The Ways and Means referral perhaps makes too much of Ms. Lerner’s personal computer use, but Wednesday’s disclosures were closely tailored to disclose only information that illuminates her actions related to the tax-exempt applications…
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:23 pm
Comment by Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 1:29 pm

Kerry has been wrong about everything since Christmas in Cambodia became seared, SEARED, into his memory.

Long before that. That didn’t happen until 1978, or was it 1979, when the movie Apocalypse Now came ou, and Kerry pretended that it was at least partially based upon him. Kerry had not said anything about back when he was testifying and active in the anti-war movement around 1971 to 1973.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:31 pm
Dialing up to eleven?

http://hotair.com/headlines/archives/2014/04/10/pelosi-immigration-law-like-internment-of-japanese/
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:43 pm
Question for Pelosi: Is any of this new law?

And how did she vote on some laws passed since she went to Congress toughening enforcement?

But anyway we see, this is going to become like the slavery issue in the 1800s, although not quite so bad. If we’re not careful, it will come to dominate all politics.

Right now, we’re at about 1842, moving to 1844.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:53 pm
As this is playing out, a full House vote to hold Lerner in contempt could be held next Tuesday, with her arrest by the House Sergeant-at-Arms occurring on the same day, April 15th.

Comment by Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 12:01 pm

Now that would be seet justice and ironic too.
Tanny O'Haley (c0a74e) — 4/10/2014 @ 5:59 pm
One thing, though: Abraham Lincoln never said he wasn’t going to enforce The Fugitive Slave Act, and as a matter of fact, he did.

The difference bwteen this and Japanese internment is that it is lawful, and actually called for by law.

This issue is going to tear the country apart more than the Vietnam War, but less than slavery,

We’re only a few years away from that.

Unless the members of the Republican Party figure out a way to climb down. And even Jeb Bush isn’t going far enough. He just sounds weak. This issue, in the end, cannot be finessed.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:01 pm
AAN arrest of Lois Lerner for contempt would actually cause the media to explain the issue.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:03 pm
As usual, Maerose is clueless or lying;

http://washingtonexaminer.com/report-returns-removals-of-illegal-immigrants-plummet-under-obama/article/2547045
narciso (3fec35) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:10 pm
40. The idea of the Machiavelli, Jr. pseudonym is clearly based on an article written by George Kennan, who published it with the name X.

It is interesting: in a lot of science fiction, they exceed the speed of light, but only by so much – it usually takes weeks to months to get to other stars.
Sammy Finkelman (ebf45c) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:12 pm
Sammy @59, I’m pleased to concede I’m 100% wrong and you’re 100% correct.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 6:51 pm
arrest of Lois Lerner for contempt would actually cause the media to explain the issue

They would lie.
Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:49 pm
68. arrest of Lois Lerner for contempt would actually cause the media to explain the issue

They would lie.

Comment by Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:49 pm

REPUBLICANS TAKE FIRST PRISONER IN HOBBY LOBBY JIHAD ON WOMEN!

Brave captive deprived of food, water, abortifacients.

Or, something like that.
Steve57 (e3957b) — 4/10/2014 @ 9:03 pm
“An arrest of Lois Lerner for contempt would actually cause the media to explain the issue”

68. Comment by Kevin M (b11279) — 4/10/2014 @ 8:49 pm

They would lie.

The Democrats would lie, but Republicans would be quoted, and the story would not be cnfined to one to three paragraphs.
Sammy Finkelman (93900b) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:06 pm
67. I’m glad my typos didn’t make that unclear.

Kerry had never mentioned a word about it till Apocalypse Now.

His “seared” quote comes from the mid-1980s, by which time the whole episode had become an accepted part of his biography. Or maybe, more likely, he felt he had to emphasize it so people wouldn’t challenge it.
Sammy Finkelman (93900b) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:09 pm
Lerner’s arrest would be part of the WAR ON WYMYN.
Gus (70b624) — 4/10/2014 @ 10:18 pm
I just finished rereading Lone Star Planet from your link, red. I barely remembered it, so I enjoyed it as new. It was a break from Lucky Luke animations (YouTube Ivica Miloshevski channel) and spaghetti westerns (YouTube Professional Gunfighter cahnnel). H. Beam Piper is very readable.
nk (dbc370) — 4/11/2014 @ 7:06 am
This Eric Holder person has a weak chin, weak character, and weak arguments.
Elephant Stone (8a7f08) — 4/11/2014 @ 3:03 pm

4/10/2014

Lerner Contempt Hearing Today

74 Responses to “Lerner Contempt Hearing Today”

Favorite Sites

Links

Patterico Sells Out