GatewayPundit: The audience erupted today after Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) went off on IRS official Lois Lerner today. Lerner, the director of the IRS division that singled out hundreds of conservative groups, delivered an opening statement to the House Oversight Committee committee today and then pleaded the Fifth Amendment and clammed up. Gowdy didn’t like this much.
“Mr. Issa, Mr. Cummings just said we should run this like a courtroom, and I agree with him. She just testified. She just waved her Fifth Amendment rights. You don’t get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination. That’s not the way it works. She waved her right to Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions. (Applause)”
Gowdy's got it right. Issa was off his game on this one, which he seemed to realize afterwards by dismissing Lerner pending recall. Ross Kaminsky notes Issa's mistake in the American Spectator...
I like the bulldoggedness of Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA). He should have been more of his usual self this morning when IRS official Lois “planted question” Lerner was called to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.Call her back, and if she insists on pleading the Fifth, make her repeat it over and over and over...
...Issa should have kept Lerner there, asked her more questions, and made her repeatedly refuse to answer.
The Republicans almost never get a chance at a story where the media might actually be sympathetic to them or their supporters such as Tea Party groups, and they should make the most of it. Few things could annoy the Obama administration more than having a senior IRS official repeatedly taking the fifth in questions about targeting American citizens for their political views.
Darrell Issa is one of the most aggressive, persistent members of Congress in going after Obama administration malfeasance. He should have stuck with those traits today.
As Lerner departed the room, Jim Jordan (R-OH) noted the irony that Lerner could exercise her constitutional rights while Americans were being denied answers as to why their rights had been violated.
Guy Benson of TownHall made mention of another notable moment that Republicans should keep in their pocket:
The only other notable moment in the early session was Massachusetts Democrat Stephen Lynch's powerful opening statement. He warned the witnesses that continued "stone-walling" and obfuscation would force Congress to appoint a special prosecutor to the case. Coming from a Democrat, that's a big deal, especially because the president has publicly stated his opposition to a special counsel to investigate the IRS. Here's Lynch laying down the law:This Democrat, among many Democrats who are feigning outrage over the IRS scandal, has provided the appropriate fix for Issa's mistake. Screw the committee hearings, this was obstruction! It's time for the 'hell to pay' with a special prosecutor and special council. Done.
Bear in mind, this statement came before Lerner refused to answer questions and left the room.
ADDENDUM: WaPo's Ed Rogers says a special prosecutor is inevitable...
This administration’s management of the Obama Internal Revenue Service scandal so far consists of a slow-walking, rolling disclosure of facts; equal parts equivocation, amnesia and indignation from IRS witnesses; deer-in-the-headlights non-responses by the White House press secretary; parsed, lawyerly statements from the president himself; and now one of the central key players is taking the Fifth. And all this comes from what the president claimed would be the “most transparent administration ever…”UPDATE: Issa now says he's bringing Lerner back, that she waived her Fifth Amendment right. Gowdy was correct!
Politico: House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said embattled IRS official Lois Lerner waived her Fifth Amendment rights and will be hauled back to appear before his panel again.
The California Republican said 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.
