Issa, Cummings clash at hearing after ex-IRS official Lerner takes 5th

[George II]

Source: Fox News

A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.

Lerner, who last year refused to answer questions about her role in singling out Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, was called back before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. Though Republicans argue she waived her Fifth Amendment right by giving a statement during the last hearing, Lerner continued to invoke that right on Wednesday.

"On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question," she said in response to several questions.

But ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., got into a heated argument with Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., after Issa tried to adjourn the hearing.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/05/former-irs-official-to-show-up/

---

Sorry, the only source I can find so far is Fox News, but the article is surprisingly "objective" so far....

Is Darrell Issa the biggest scumbag that has ever occupied a seat in the House of Representatives?

[CJCRANE]

1. Isn't Lerner the person who "planted" the question in a press conference

that revealed this "scandal"?

IIRC a journalist said someone gave him a specific loaded question to ask.

[George II]

3. To be honest, no one has even shown the video of the start of the "hearing", just....

....her taking the fifth and Issa adjourning without allowing Cummings to speak. So I don't even know what the question was.

I'm sure more will be posted by other sources later in the day.

Edit: the video (which I thought would just be Issa turning off the microphones) shows the question to Lerner.

[CJCRANE]

5. I'm talking about what first started the IRS scandal last year.

The trigger that started the scandal was an apparently random question from a reporter in a news conference.

It turned out that an IRS official had planted the question.

Crazy conspiracy theorists might think there was a wider and previous conspiracy to trump up a scandal.

[Tx4obama]

14. Yes, she is the one that originally made a comment. n/t

[mehrrh]

2. Issa

Yes.
Issa is a scumbag. Issa is trying to make a scandal out of a non-scandal. Issa is terribly disrespectful to Cummings.
He reminded me of Sensenbrenner who also once shut off the microphone (and the lights) at a Democratic meeting -a meeting that had been relegated to a basement storage room.
This is how GOP thugs operate -- like thugs. Unfortunately the voters who like that kind of behavior elect them into office.

[blm]

4. It's NOT objective. 'for her role in singling out Tea Party...for extra scrutiny..." was a "scandal"

manufactured by Issa. There was no singling out of just Tea Party and conservative groups. There was a direction by Issa to inspector to ONLY report on scrutiny of RW groups.

June 26, 2013
IG: Audit of IRS actions limited to Tea Party groups at GOP request

The Treasury inspector general (IG) whose report helped drive the IRS targeting controversy says it limited its examination to conservative groups because of a request from House Republicans.

A spokesman for Russell George, Treasury’s inspector general for tax administration, said they were asked by House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) “to narrowly focus on Tea Party organizations.”

The inspector general’s audit found that groups seeking tax-exempt status with “Tea Party” and “patriots” in their name did receive extra attention from the IRS, with some facing years of delay and inappropriate questions from the agency.
But top congressional Democrats have wielded new information from the IRS this week that liberal groups were also flagged for extra attention on the sorts of “be on the lookout” lists (BOLOs) that also tripped up conservative groups.

The spokesman for the Treasury inspector general noted their audit acknowledged there were other watch lists. But the spokesman added: "We did not review the use, disposition, purpose or content of the other BOLOs. That was outside the scope of our audit.”
>>>>>>>


Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/domestic-taxes/307813-irs-ig-says-audit-limited-to-tea-party-groups#ixzz2v6ccsfgN

[CJCRANE]

7. Maybe she was part of the set up

as per my comment about the planted question.

[blm]

8. Exactly. The Fifth over something like this is pure dogandpony show.

.

[factsarenotfair]

9. I think that's a possibility. That was a nice Dem blue jacket she had on today, wasn't it?

Some people might think she was a liberal with a crime to hide.
Yes, I could just be a crazy conspiracy theorist thinking that but I do really think Republicans are evil schemers who want to destroy the Democratic Party.

[Berlum]

10. + 1,000

[Ccarmona]

6. Here's A Link

that includes a video imbed of the exchange.

http://thinkprogress.org/home/2014/03/05/3363811/republican-chairman-cuts-the-mic-and-walks-out-when-democrat-challenges-him/

Why is Issa still in Congress and not behind bars; and why did Bill Maher give this guy a forum to lie last month?

[mstinamotorcity2]

11. I love it!!!!

Get Issa. Bitch ass Issa Fight, Fight, Fight!!!!

[phleshdef]

12. "What are you hiding?" "He's taking the 5th Elijah"

Gotta crank your sound up to hear everything, but that was at the very end, lol.

[George II]

13. Yeah, I heard that just about the end of the video! Hysterical!!!!!!!!!!

[Marthe48]

15. Issa has a hissie

n/t

[wordpix]

16. Issa the arsonist, car thief and insurance fraudster finally gets called out

VERY proud of Elijah Cummings for not taking Issa's thuggery

[George II]

17. Cummings vs. Issa.....

....Cummings wins hands down. Issa made a fool of himself, and many REPUBLICANS have admitted that!

The scum Issa should be in jail. You left out one thing - he was charged with carrying a concealed weapon but pleaded down to possession of an unregistered firearm.

He is detestable, and makes my stomach turn. I was SO happy to see Elijah Cummings stand up to him and humiliate Issa.

You know what may have been the funniest thing about the incident? He made his millions in the electronics business, but he freaking couldn't figure out how to turn off the microphones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[calimary]

18. Here's something you can do:

Last edited Thu Mar 6, 2014, 02:30 PM - Edit history (2)

issa's district is the 49th California district.

My husband and I BOTH called the TOLL FREE CAPITOL HILL SWITCHBOARD NUMBERS (see below, in my sig line) and complained - and guess what? Even identifying as Californians, we were cut off!

I called back and pointed out that I was from one of his cities (Newport Beach) and I STILL got hung up on. Next time, I got shoved over into the message machine. I checked his Facebook page - there are startling posts there from people who are thanking him for telling that Cummings character where to go. OUTRAGEOUS!!!
https://www.facebook.com/darrellissa

Well, the TOLL FREE numbers are below. His district office number is (760) 599 - 5000. You're more apt to get a human person on the end of the line - but if you say anything that isn't complimentary, they'll probably cut you off and send you to message.

From Wikipedia: The district covers the northern coastal areas of San Diego County, including cities such as Oceanside, Vista, Carlsbad and Encinitas, as well as a small portion of southern Orange County. Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is located within the district.

So there's Newport Beach, Vista, Oceanside, Poway, Carlsbad, Encinitas, Temecula, Bonsall, Fallbrook, Temecula, Perris, Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano (where the swallows would return every St. Joseph's Day).
Vista District Office; 1800 Thibodo Road, #310; Vista, CA 92081; Phone: [phone]; Fax: [phone].

Sometimes it helps if you call and say you're from one of those cities. Here's a handy guide for finding zip codes in case you're asked (for proof that you're from there - sometimes they ask what zip code you're calling from):
http://www.unitedstateszipcodes.org
Oceanside: 92054
Carlsbad: 92008
Encinitas: 92024
Poway: 92064
San Clemente: 92672
Capistrano: 92675
Temecula: 92590
Vista: 92084
Fallbrook: 92028
Newport Beach: 92663
Bonsall: 92003
Perris: 92570
Dana Point: 92629

Some details about this fuckwad:
http://www.crewsmostcorrupt.org/mostcorrupt/entry/darrell-issa
http://mediamatters.org/research/2011/01/11/report-media-ignore-rep-issas-alleged-criminal/174997
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/20/darrell-issa-wealth_n_3786778.html

I'm calling both his Washington and his district offices. You'll likely be hung up on, shoved over to the message machine, placed on extended hold (ignore) or - well, hung up on. But I think we should keep doing it ANYWAY. What he did to Elijah Cummings was HORRID, DISGRACEFUL, REPREHENSIBLE, and DOWNRIGHT UNAMERICAN!!!!
Doesn't matter if you get hung up on. CALL ANYWAY!!!! And then CALL BACK!!!!!!

I found it interesting that with him and his websites, it seems to be a one-way-only communication. They want YOUR information but trying to find theirs is difficult. Whenever you find a "Contact" or "Contact Me" link, it's always a form YOU have to fill out. So I went ahead and did some extra digging. Now you have everything and anything you need. Btw - the district is about 61-and-some percent Anglo. And I think it was something two or three percent African American. Figures. Twenty-some-odd percent Latino, also.