Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Video: Lerner takes the Fifth — or did she?
Lerner’s Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination was voided when she gave an opening statement



◼ House IRS hearings live streaming — Lois Lerner to plead 5th - Le-gal In-sur-rec-tion
◼ link - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Via ◼ Andrew Johnson at NRO, Lois Lerner’s decision to take the Fifth came as no surprise. What did come as a surprise was that Lerner actually started off by, er, testifying on her own behalf. Surprisingly, Lerner accepted Darrell Issa’s invitation to deliver an opening statement under oath, and then testified to the provenance of a transcript of her deposition to the Inspector General. Only at that point did Lerner plead the Fifth...

That poses a big question as to whether Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights to avoid self-incrimination. Rep. Trey Gowdy argued that the law does not allow a witness to testify on her behalf and then refuse to answer any other questions:


After Lerner’s statements, Representative Trey Gowdy (R., S.C.) argued she “waved her right to Fifth Amendment privilege” by making those statements and urged that she stay and answer questions: ”You don’t get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross-examination.” Lerner was ultimately allowed to invoke her Fifth Amendment rights and leave the hearing.
Issa did allow Lerner to leave the hearing after asking her twice whether she’d be willing to answer questions on narrower grounds, to which Lerner twice refused. However, Issa warned her she’d be subject to recall — and that the committee would be consulting counsel about her use of the Fifth Amendment.

◼ Issa: Lerner Waived her 5th Amendment Rights - Stephen Green/PJMedia
◼ Darrell Issa: Lois Lerner lost her rights - Rachael Bade/Politico

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.), a former federal prosecutor, said Lerner lost her rights the minute she started proclaiming her innocence, and that lawmakers therefore were entitled to question her. But Ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings of Maryland said hearing rules were not like those of a courtroom.



...Lerner’s Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination was voided when she gave an opening statement this morning denying any wrongdoing and professing pride in her government service.

◼ Why Did Lois Lerner Take the Fifth? Perhaps to protect herself from Obama. - James Taranto/Wall St. Journal
...Marshall writes that he "was chatting with people yesterday" who said civil service rules may make it "extremely difficult or even impossible" to fire Lerner. Doing so because she exercised her rights under the Fifth Amendment would be unconstitutional.

Now, who were these "people" with whom Marshall was "chatting" yesterday? Might they have had an interest in the case? The Weekly Standard takes note of a tweet from NPR's Ari Shapiro at 3:25 ET yesterday afternoon: "Spotted: @joshtpm @CapehartJ @ezraklein & other lefty columnists headed into the West Wing as a group. POTUS coffee? Carney meeting? Anyone?"

Those Twitter IDs belong, respectively, to Marshall, Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post and Journolist founder Ezra Klein, also of the Post. Marshall's post calling for Lerner's defenestration appeared at 10:15 this morning. Exactly half an hour, Klein had a post along similar lines: "Yes, Heads Should Roll at the IRS." Capehart is busy with another topic, "Gay Inclusion." But the similarity between Marshall's and Klein's posts suggests that they may be acting in the capacity of unofficial White House spokesmen.

The White House seems to have an inkling it can't fire Lerner: Klein as well as Marshall emphasized the stringency of civil-service rules. But encouraging the public to draw adverse conclusions from her assertion of her rights under the Fifth Amendment would have a similar effect of turning her into a scapegoat.

The American people have a right to know both how deep and how high the corruption of our government runs. The White House has an interest in minimizing the scandal, and surely that is Obama's objective if he is trying to throw Lerner under the bus. Let's reserve judgment on her and make sure not to let off the hook the man whose re-election the IRS's abuse of power helped to advance....


◼ IRS official (Douglas Shulman) says he’s ‘incredibly sad’ about what happened to the Tea Party - Charlie Spiering/Washington Examiner @charlesspiering



◼ Is Kathryn Ruemmler the next one under the bus? - Ed Morrissey/HotAir

Until a few weeks ago, only the most die-hard political geeks would have known the name Kathryn Ruemmler or her position as White House counsel. These days, she’s becoming more and more famous, and that might be by design. ◼ The Washington Post highlights her role in the IRS scandal, in which the top lawyer in the West Wing is purported to have played goalie with information in order to ensure plausible deniability... We only have a few posts before this month that mention Ruemmler, but almost all of them have to do with blocking transparency — on Operation Fast and Furious and on Solyndra, mainly...

◼ REPORT: 'ROGUE' IRS AGENT CLAIM UNRAVELING - Wynton Hall/Breitbart

An investigation by Cincinnati Fox 19 reporter Ben Swann finds that Obama Administration claims that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) targeting of conservative groups was the work of two “rogue” low-level employees in Cincinnati, Ohio, strain credulity and are "falling apart."
Swann reports that so far six IRS agents working out of the Cincinnati office—which is the central hub for processing tax-exempt applications—have been identified as sending scrutinizing letters to conservative groups. These include:
Mitchel Steele-IRS Agent
Carly Young-IRS Agent
Joseph Herr-IRS Agent
Stephen Seok-IRS Supervisor
Liz Hofacre-IRS Agent
Ms. Richards (full name unknown)-IRS Agent
These agents report to different managers, with a territory manager overseeing those managers.

◼ Cracks Widen In The IRS Scandal Stonewall - IBD

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