House Republicans had summoned Lerner to testify before Congress on Wednesday, more than nine months after she invoked her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
In response to a series of pointed questions from Issa on Wednesday, Lerner repeatedly said, "On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question.
When the ranking Democrat on the panel, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, tried to ask a question, Issa told Republicans on the committee they could leave and the hearing was over. He also told Lerner she was free to go. Lerner is the former head of the IRS office that oversees non-profit organizations' applications for tax exempt status.
Last year, Lerner acknowledged at a legal conference that the IRS had inappropriately delayed the applications of groups using "tea party" or other politically charged terms in their names, and had subjected some of these groups to invasive questions.
The admission touched off a firestorm of criticism, as Republicans alleged that the Obama administration had been using the IRS to target its political opponents. Lerner and her attorney, William Taylor, remained at the witness table as Cummings decried the Republican-controlled committee's investigation as a partisan witch hunt. Issa did not want to cancel the planned Wednesday hearing - for which Lerner was seeking a delay - until he was satisfied she had testified fully.
Elijah Cummings, D-Md. Please enter email address to continue. Please enter valid email address to continue. Chrome Safari Continue.
Be the first to know. The committee voted down party lines in June that Lerner did in fact waive those rights, and Republicans reserved the right to summon her back to answer questions. Lerner took center stage in the targeting controversy after she publicly apologized for improper conduct at a tax conference. She retired from the IRS in September, just before an agency was set to recommend she be fired. Republicans have depicted Lerner as the center figure of a targeting scandal, where Tea Party groups were subjected to added scrutiny in an effort to squash their political efforts.
Democrats have also been critical of Lerner, but maintained that the IRS targeting was not limited to conservative groups and that Republicans have found no political motivation behind the targeting, even after months of investigating. View the discussion thread.
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