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IRS' Lois Lerner Re-Subpoenaed After Accidentally Waiving Her Right To Plead The Fifth
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
Robert Hanlon
Perhaps, when one gets down to it, there was no actual intent of malice or ill-will on behalf of the IRS to persecute conservative groups (there was of course), and the bottom line is that all of the administration's IRS apparatchicks were just bloody stupid.
Such is the conclusion one derives after watching today's attempt by embattled IRS official Lois Lerner to plead the Fifth before the House Oversight Committee, which blew up spectacularly in her face, after she made an actual statement protesting her innocence, which it appears, was in itself a waiver of the waiver.
As a result, committee Chairman Darrell Issa has ordered Lerner to be hauled back, and to answer the questions she evaded earlier today, after now having effectively waived her Fifth Amendment right in retrospect, or else be charged with contempt!
The farce is becoming so blatant it is almost as if someone is utterly desperate to make a complete mockery of the entire IRS scandal, and in the process shake the administration to the core, which more than anything is being exposed as utterly incompetent to boot. Of course, the real question is what is the public's attention being distracted from.
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.
“When I asked her her questions from the very beginning, I did so so she could assert her rights prior to any statement,” Issa told POLITICO. “She chose not to do so — so she waived.”
She appeared before Issa’s committee this morning under the order of a subpoena and surprised many by reading a strong statement to the panel.
“I have not done anything wrong,” she said. “I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other committee.”... the committee may ultimately pursue a contempt charge if Lerner continues to refuse to talk.
And just so there is no confusion:
During the incident, Issa did not flat-out say whether or not Lerner had indeed waived her rights but instead tried to coax her into staying by offering to narrow the scope of questions.
By the afternoon, Issa was taking a harder stand.
“The precedents are clear that this is not something you can turn on and turn off,” he told POLITICO. “She made testimony after she was sworn in, asserted her innocence in a number of areas, even answered questions asserting that a document was true … So she gave partial testimony and then tried to revoke that.”
He said he was not expecting that.
“I understand from her counsel that there was a plan to assert her Fifth Amendment rights,” he continued. “She went ahead and made a statement, so counsel let her effectively under the precedent, waive — so we now have someone who no longer has that ability.”
Watch the entire exchange here, andfast forward to the sixth minute for the legal objection:
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You don't have to practice to be miserable
You see her thinking: "Oh, fudge" in between those huge nervous sighs.
She waived.
"Perhaps, when one gets down to it, there was no actual intent of malice or ill-will on behalf of the IRS to persecute conservative groups (there was of course), and the bottom line is that all of the administration's IRS apparatchicks were just bloody stupid."
Bullshit.
The IRS gave private information to ProPublica...a "progressive" group. They were using the power of government against those who believe in smaller government & less taxes.
Her exact words were:
"I did what? Hah-hah! I'm not good at law!"
And NOT just Tea Party...
“The IRS narrative suggested that somehow it was objectionable to oppose anti-Christian bigotry and defend the rights of Christians.”
The IRS letter read:
http://www.wnd.com/2013/05/christians-claim-irs-harassment-in-election/#GHCydfYzu2ef4wBS.99
Many were singled out for "special treatment"...just long enough to get through an election.
You gotta hand it to this lady. She managed to infringe the First Amendment and then waive her right to the Fifth Amendment! And then there's that oath to defend and uphold the Constitution that she clearly broke. A hat trick.
She's definitely in the running for the 2013 Let The Eat Cake Award ;-)
And after they are done questioning her at the next session, O will make a surprise appearance and introduce her as the new Treasury Secretary?
lol...from the news of late...he'll probably order a drone strike on her terrorist neighbor to shut her up ;-)
Anger old white women's one thing but stupid old cunts another
Somebody find out who her lawyer is -- so we all know to stay the F'K away from that 'tard crew!
They will try to get you to believe this. In reality, they are very very smart, and they are filthy as hell
"They will try to get you to believe this. "
"Of course, the real question is what is the public's attention being distracted from"
Finally. I hoped I wasn't the only one who saw this. When the IRS leaks this entire scandal at a press briefing ON PURPOSE . . . what are they trying so desperately to distract us from? It sure isn't Benghazi.
Is not Benghazi, is Ben Dover and take it like good boy.
In light of the SPLC driven "patriots = domestic terrorists" campaign in the DHS, the IRS' demands for lists of members and donors is very, very chilling. NCTC holla!
I have no reference for a witness taking the 5th during Congressional hearings. With that here's my take...
I'm questioning the presentation put on display for us. I found it curious how she attempted to invoke he right to refuse to testify. She kept qualifying every refusal with the time frame of "today." Her final assertion at 7:30 makes it clear 'she will not be testifying today.' By defining a specific time frame she leaves open the possibility of her deciding to testify at a future date.
Also curious about Issa's utter lack of anger about it. He's usually not a softy with uncooperative witnesses.
Games are afoot. Another Hegelian dialectic playing out before our eyes? Scrap the current tax code because it's just too fucked up to repair and replace with a national VAT which is worse than income tax because it's a hidden tax?
"Also curious about Issa's utter lack of anger about it. He's usually not a softy with uncooperative witnesses."
Everyone and their lawyer's grandmother knew this woman was going to come in and plead the fifth. If Issa knew this (which he did), then he wouldn't have much reason to get angry. I think what surprised everyone was her apparent ignorance of how to plead the fifth before a congressional hearing.
In other words, plead the fifth and SHUT UP, or don't plead at all. Now she gets to spill her guts or get charged with contempt. Either way, Issa wins.
Or...... She may have wanted to spill her guts, but was threatened and played this crafty pre-arranged kabuki.
Yes! Mr. president but.... I got caught
Frankly, given the level intelligence she displayed, I'm surprised she didn't use the Chewbacca Defense.
+1 for Kypseli
Either way, Issa wins.
Nobody wins shit unless there are handcuffs, or hangmans nooses.
That won't happen.
If I don't pay them a hundred bucks thay can shut my life down. They, at any time, ( and I mean every corrupted piece of shit in every level of government, from the dogcatcher to the White House), can violate any law with impunity and be rewarded with a life long pension and a car to drive to work.
This shit won't work much longer, even though there are no more Daniel Shays to be had in this once great country.
Have a hard look at FairTax(.org). It also gets rid of the IRS and it is for the cancellation of the 16th Amendment. It boils down to a consumer tax and gets rid of a lot of taxes including the payroll tax.
Check out the above site. Milestones
I would think the tribe has many decent lawyers available for a fellow member; but I suspect she didn't take his advice and just shut up.
Some bitches just don't know when to shut up. Hopefully Issa sends the wench to jail.
Women like to talk, period. In cases such as this, let them.
I hope she plays with electrical outlets and makes the Darwin Awards.
You can look at any industry sector in the United States - for that matter many other Western Countries too - and what you will discover is layer upon layer upon layer upon layer, of Cobwebs.
All we learn from within the education system is to add layers and keep the system moving, not to tear them off and investigate.
'Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive'
- Sir Walter Scott –
Yeah, but what happens when "first" becomes second, third....'nth'?
Answer: People lose their moral compass. You can hide from legality by standing between words to dodge the raindrops and justify your righteousness, but you cannot claim morality. If ‘Law’ is a framework, then ‘Morality’ is an immersion.
I suspect it gets very deep with all the "vested interests" dependant on the system surviving as is...but it can't.
From the MIC to Wall Street to welfare.
"Change" can be scary, if they don't trust the people trying to change it ;-)
Worst part is-is that the general public is just as morally corrupt. When everything is fine and life's ok, not many people care about this stuff. It's only when things go to the Dogs when the average person sits-up, pays attention, gets fired-up, and wants justice and morality enforced.
A brilliant perspective: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKC2c225EnE
Hell, I know people in Real Estate who still think housing prices are dictated by 'Supply & Demand'...LOL...and they think the Boom is coming back soon!
"Worst part is-is that the general public is just as morally corrupt."
Yes.
I don't know how many times I've made that statement and been shouted off the page...its the bankers!...its the government!...its the rich!...its welfare brood mares!
It is us.
We allow this shit. We allow it to pit us against each other in the process.
We allow people to steal and call it compassion. We allow Wall Street to steal from the public purse and allow economists to say there is no other way without them getting laughed off the podium. We allow a nineteen year old with a friggin handgun to force the public to shelter in place in a major metropolitan city. We allow "public servants" to takeover our lives, then just bitch about it, call it progress and say thats just the way it is.
I'm beginning to believe fully two thirds deserve exactly what they are getting. I'm (and mine) are mostly immune to their depredations of wants & needs and their constant casting around for a boogeyman that is anything other than them.
"And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who's to blame? Well certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror."
Maybe some are beginning to awake,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUsyrH51Gz8
Be sure to note who the "police" are.
"Why all the fuss about posse comitatus?" http://www.dalegreen.us/downloads/InfoFileRoom/Police%20State%20-%20Tyra...
@ nmewn
The saying "A people deserve their leaders" comes to mind. When no one leans out the window to shout "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it any more", then the die is cast.
This nation is well down the road to Perdition, and only a shill, a fool or a chronic 'patriot' would want to "fight". Fight for what, for whom? For these "people"? LMFAO.
The only thing worth 'fighting' for is one's extended family, friends and Tribe. Form your own Clan, your own Tribe of common kinship, heritage and values - the way the Muslims do. And then add to that the common vision, purpose, allegiance and organizational strength-- the way Jews do. Be selectively inclusive, but otherwise exclusive -- the way your body or any body is selective in what it keeps and what it rejects or expels. Only then can you & yours be strong against the winds, trials and tribulations of society, other cultures and 'your' government.
Conisder how the early Christians (first few hundred years) survived and grew under the yoke of a corrupt and disintegrating Roman Empire. The US today is like a USSA or a Latter Day Rome. You/we cannot stop this reality or change its trajectory as fast as Americans would like (we're conditioned to "I want it, and I want it now!"), but we can build a new social order from the ashes of what is now a dying order.
The MSM, TPTB, and their agents, shills & trolls will not want you to be strong along these self-determined criteria -- but only strong around their criteria. Their statist criteria are designed to make them and their system strong, not you and your system. Keep that clarity and focus, and don't get distracted or bullied.
Tribe on!
Another good take... http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5aZCYnsG--c
our society is politically correct and morally corrupt.
it's not sustainable, maybe through an election or two it is, but it's not something we can build a future for our children on.
That is were you are wrong if there is enough weapons and thugs to go along with the plan, it just becomes repressive and more totalitarianistic and the marxists swing from fabian socialists to more facist types who use the equivalent physical force to enforce the state control when the mental rape tactics the fabian socialists use no longer keep the population compliant. That is coming next when the money runs out and the all the promises made can't be kept. The country will split first before this whole scourge is dealt with in a decisive manner at this point.
This is what happens when you elect lawyers to run a country and then allow them to appoint the heads of the various federal agencies that enforce the rules.
Lessons from rome 1900 years ago, Tacitus:
corruptissima re publica plurimae leges When the republic is at its most corrupt the laws are most numerous+1. Tacitus is highly recommended.
Speak of the election it wasn't just Tea Party groups being targeted and it wasn't just the IRS doing it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/3021531/posts
Houston-based True the Vote is an organization dedicated to preserving the integrity of the voting process. They're a outfit any normal, good-faith American ought to be glad exists, what with 160 U.S. counties showing more people registered than the actual number of live, eligible voters in existence. Alas, the compulsively-crooked Obama White House despises them.
True the Vote IS NOT a Republican outfit, and promotes no candidates nor political issues- they're merely focused on ensuring legal/fair/inclusive voting. In just the previous 18 months, voter fraud cases have been prosecuted in 36 states, so they know the problem is real, as does apparently the 'progressive' left that's been utilizing it to win elections...
thus their (telling) fear of these good folks.
Last night on Huckabee, president of True The Vote Catherine Engelbrecht detailed the unprecedented (in this country) political harassment her justice-seeking organization has suffered at the hands of Obama's politicized IRS once they dared apply for tax exempt status: she and her group were shaken-down by IRS auditors for months- they drilled her re. Facebook posts, Twitter tweets... even where Catherine was scheduled to speak!
But that was nothing: Engelbrecht said she was soon also harassed by the FBI, OSHA and then by the
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), who paid a visit and physically 'checked' her gun safe.
And while it's no surprise that hyper-partisan, morally-bankrupt Team Obama was out to neutralize conservative groups, attacking voter integrity organizations carries the obvious implications that the White House not only has no interest in honest elections... they're out to get anybody who even asks too many questions about it.
Now that Obama's been caught, his noxious administration is -typically- casting about for some White House janitor to blame, while everybody knows such widespread political oppression -which is about as anti-American as it gets- had to have come straight from the WH. As a matter of fact, initial efforts to blame the whole IRS targeting scandal on some cubicle-dwellers in Cincinnati has been exposed as a blatant lie already, as at least two other IRS regional offices have been implicated in the scandal.
In the wake of the unsettling revelations we've seen over the last week, more people are starting to deduce that Obama in-fact stole the 2012 election with fraud and by squelching Tea Party groups with any government intimidation he and his crew of thugs -and evil scientists- thought they could pull-off.
And they did get-away with these Stasi-esque shenanigans... up until now, anyway.
You are correct sir...too bad 99% of the populace doesn't get that.....
If one does not understand the connection between the Fifth Amend. and The Spanish Inquisition, then the Fifth Amend becomes an unclear arbitrary subject to jawboning and spinny debate.
The ONLY barricade to the use of torture to extract "confession" is the precious Fifth Amendment. No Fifth = invitation to torture.
Immigration Bill. Period.
Agreed, it passed.
Oh shit really? I'm not often religious but you can perhaps see some correlates between biometric identification and the mark
"The farce is becoming so blatant it is almost as if someone is utterly desperate to make a complete mockery of the entire IRS scandal, and in the process shake the administration to the core, which more than anything is being exposed as utterly incompetent to boot. Of course, the real question is what is the public's attention being distracted from."
I don't know what the public is being distracted from...but it is being distracted by images of Kanye West's big, fat pregnant condom.......
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2328721/Kim-Kardashian-preg...
Oh...I know.....the American public IS being distracted from this in England.....
Blood on his hands, hatred in his eyes: 2.30pm on a suburban high street, Islamic fanatics wielding meat cleavers butcher a British soldier, taking their war on the West to a new level of horrorhttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2329089/Woolwich-attack-Two-men-...
The poor bastard who had to go like that. Right wing England is gonna go all soccer hooligan on their asses.
I hope so, but doubt it. The UK is lost.
"Right wing England"
Yeah, all three of them.
Obama would say that's just workplace violence. Now that he single handedly killed Osama there is no more terrorism.
hope she rots in *ell....aka Washington, DC.....
I hope she rolls on O'bomb-a.
Those rights are reserved for Reggie Love.
That would never happen. These are true believers. They'd go to to jail first before they'd give up their messiah.
She is too low down to directly communicate with Obozo. Probably some Treasury Union honcho told her "this is what the White House wants", and she arranged it.
When trying to find a portal into hell one has a hard time choosing between the DMV and IRS office as the most likely location.
Lerner has no worries since Eric <the place> Holder would have to proscute. That worked so well for congress before.
This treasonous bitch deserves a round of jailhouse ass fuckings. Let the strap-on dykes have their way with her.
Oh what a web we weave when we try to deceive (or some shit like that).
One of the few pleasures that remain to me at my age is that of watching inept, unqualified, "in over their head" assholes "out" themselves.
Indeed. I have been making nooses out of words all day. I am currently outing the local agenda21, sustainability, EDP douchebag lawyer in a thread on a story on our local newspaper web site. He keeps settin' 'em up, and I keep knockin' 'em down.
These liberal prog socialist types get too big for their own britches and get stuck down by their own hubris.
What a typically disgusting Obama stooge!
Throw her lying ass in jail!
stupid is as stupid does...
Dumb Cunt
Redundant.
She understand how this works. There is one set of rules for us, and another for them. Some animals are more equal than others.
Sadly, she will never be held to account, which would entail a long trip to federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. Why? Because the FBI has all the details of the dead hookers and the live boys.
+1 - Dead girls and live boys. Both may be hookers.
@Hedgetard. I love it. Snarky and brilliant at the same. +1 from me, bro!
corrupt is as corrupt does
Make no mistake, this was no mistake. Nothing is.
I agree. Her lawyer can't possibly have told her that she could selectively say "I'm innocent" while then proclaiming her right against self-incrimination. You can't have it both ways and no doubt she knew that. So there must be a reason she chose to do what she did.
Yeah, the third rule of law: when you've got nothing, argue about anything. That arguement will be the new story line.
Perhaps her lawyer wanted to increase her value, "she's taking the fifth", she knows someting BIG-Give us a deal!
Could be. The "Justice" Department opened an "investigation" of her, so it's certainly possible they cut a deal with her already. As in "take the fall and we'll send you to Martha camp for a few months and all will be forgotten."
I understand how this could be a strategy to get legal cover so as to avoid having to be the fall guy (girl) for people who told her she was going to Capitol Hill to plead the 5th and that she will take the fall with only a slap on the wrist. Then, all will be forgotten.
That said, I can also see a moronic mistake made by counsel or her here.
The Congressional Committee knows much, much more than you or I, whether substantiated or hearsay (at this point).
Washington has always been a center of leaks and rumors, and such are frequently offered up unsolicited to the most powerful people by those looking to gain favor.
If she were truly worthless in this investigation, then they would think twice about bringing her back.
By the way, where are Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod ?!
Why are they hiding in the weeds or off in Siberia? What could be he reason for them missing in action for so long?
Hmmmm. I wonder. Hmmmmm.
"By the way, where are Valerie Jarrett and David Axelrod ?!"
Great question - it appears the White House is doing everything possible to distance themselves from the scandal. They'll burn all their low-levels in an attempt to keep the focus off themselves.
No, she has a law degree herself and no doubt believes that she is both morally and intellectually superior to those on the other side of the "bar" as it were. She didn't get bad advise, she didn't believe she needed any.
When she did this it occurred to me that perhaps she did it on purpose because she knows the Obama Administration has decided to make her the sacrificial lamb, especially after Obama's meeting with several of the Journo-list liberal bloggers and editorialists yesterday, many of whom promptly wrote pieces calling for her to be fired. By screwing up her invocation of the 5th, she can "be forced to testify" and implicate those further up the food chain without looking like she went rogue. I'm not defending her, it's just difficult to believe that her counsel would let her handle her invocation that way. They are a very prominent DC law firm, and I'm pretty sure they know the legal way to plead the 5th.
sorta like how J.Roberts flubbed the Oath of Office in 2008.
interesting theory...if true, she might have just okie-doked the Big Okie-doke.
that's what he gets for trying to punk her in the press.
She will do her version of "Flip this House" in the House...and fill flip everyone she ever worked with or for. Probably leading up to a book release and movie rights. Probably has a dacha setup in New Zealand.
Then she does a backfliup off the WW Bridge and is floating face down in the Potomac.
"Make no mistake, this was no mistake. Nothing is."
Make no mistake, shit flows downhill. An incredible amount of energy is being expended behind the scenes to prevent the true origin of this shit river from being revealed.
They desperately want some lowly peon to take the fall, but we all know this was squeezed out by the asshole at the top.
Can you waive a right?
I'd say any government scumbag employee has no right to the fifth concerning government matters, even regarding their criminality. Sign up to be a servant and poof, there goes your 5th. That might - might- keep some away.
Regardless, never talk to the cops or government, a lesson this bitch is starting to learn.
Regarding never talk to the govt - She "works" for the govt and is paid by taxpayers. I don't even think these govt gangsters should be allowed to invoke the fifth. Tell em up front before they are hired. Before you sign on for this job - you agree you have no fifth amendment right regardings any illegal activities regarding your work.
Bingo. Our soldiers have to conform to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Any other govt employee should do the same.
Don't give them ideas. Pretty soon we'll all be conscripted into the military for "freedom training" and voila. No more rights.
They might have used that in the past when we had rights. Don't so much see the point of doing it now.
She will plead the fifth again and there aint shit anyone can do about it.. What they should do is drag everyone in who worked in her dept for her and question them all.. the rats will start abandoning one by one.
Constitutionally she can do this at any time. Repeatedly, if she wants. I don't think a waiver of her right to not self incriminate is in play here. She obviously has something to hide and in due course we will find out. A special prosecutor is a must now.
Not so sure of that. Testifying that you are innocent is utterly inconsistent with invoking the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination. You can either invoke the Fifth, or testify on your own behalf. If you testify to Congress that you are innocent and then refuse to answer questions about why because to do so would incriminate you, you have effectively admitted that you gave false testimony as to your innocence.
"If you testify to Congress that you are innocent
and then refuse to answer questions about why
because to do so would incriminate you,
you have effectively admitted that you gave false testimony as to your innocence."
Brilliant summation!
Therefore pleading the FIF means you are guilty but you ain't gonna help the govt convict you? What a country.
Things are a bit more complicated than your description. The law states that a person's taking the fifth cannot be used to infer that the person is guilty. Therefore, one can claim to be innocent and also invoke the fifth without fear that one's claim of innocence will be considered false testimony.
In the 2001 case Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “a witness may have a reasonable fear of prosecution and yet be innocent of any wrongdoing. The [Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination] serves to protect the innocent who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.” This case beefed up an earlier ruling that prosecutors can’t ask a jury to draw an inference of guilt from a defendant’s refusal to testify in his own defense.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-agains...
Not quite. You can plead the 5th all day long and that is not an admission of guilt and the government may not use the invocation as evidence of guilt. But if you testify under oath that you are innocent and then you take the 5th on the same subject matter, you have just contradicted your earlier testimony and thus you have admitted that you lied under oath as to your innocence.
Not true; you can be innocent of one crime and wish to not incriminate yourself for another separate crime.
That is true -- but her testimony is that she committed no crime on the subject about which she is now pleading the 5th. It's not splitting hairs. You can't come into a murder trial, testify that you are innocent of murder, and then take the 5th when you are asked by the prosecution if you committed murder. If you are asked if you smoked pot last night, you can still take the 5th. That's not what she's doing.
It works in state criminal courts, dont know about Senate hearings.
That is a great idea but unfortunately, an FBI agent was interviewing a bunch of them that were disgruntled and he felt threatened so he burned the building down and they are all dead. Truly unfortunate turn of events. We may never know the truth of how it truly was all the two rogue janitors that caused this.
The House can just give her immunity and force her to testify. They can do the same for many others. They don't care about actual prosecutions because (a) Obama's Administration isn't going to prosecute anyone anyway, and (b) the real targets here are Obama and his White House Staff, not GS-level IRS flunkies.
I was wondering about that. She stated that she did nothing wrong. Therefore either she committed perjury in her opening statement or else she has no grounds to plead the fifth. Stupid bitch. Now all "they" have to do is prove she did something wrong and they have her by the short and curlies.
The only way these evil fu*ks will be held accountable is if the people they harass can personally sue them and the govt or their union is not providing them with a lawyer. This govt criminal scum is just about untouchable.
Nope, her lawyer told her to shave...
her lawyer is sum dum fuk imo
No, this was deliberate. And now they will find something to pin on her, and prosecute it.
I would imagine behind the scenes she agreed to be the fall guy. Maybe there's a pardon waiting for her, or $, or that's what she thinks and gets suicided. But there's little doubt this was no accident.
What positions are currently open at Goldman Sachs? Chancellor of Germany? Oh yeah Italy will be up for grabs soon.
Same positions as before I guess.
buzz - I'm reposting my comment from above in response to your claim that she might have committed perjury in her opening statement.
Things are a bit more complicated than your description. The law states that a person's taking the fifth cannot be used to infer that the person is guilty. Therefore, one can claim to be innocent and also invoke the fifth without fear that one's claim of innocence will be considered false testimony.
In the 2001 case Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “a witness may have a reasonable fear of prosecution and yet be innocent of any wrongdoing. The [Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination] serves to protect the innocent who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.” This case beefed up an earlier ruling that prosecutors can’t ask a jury to draw an inference of guilt from a defendant’s refusal to testify in his own defense.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-agains...
Taking the fifth may not be considered an admission of guilt but testifying under oath that you are innocent and then being proved otherwise is damn sure perjury.
Martha Stewart did time for a hell of a lot less.
martha stewart is to enron as this girl is to...
Martha Stewart talked to Federal Agents. NEVER talk to federal agents. If any Federal Agent asks you a question, SAY NOTHING.
NOTHING.
If you EVER say anything to a federal agent that later proves to be untrue, you will be convicted.
ANYTHING.
"Was your third grade teacher's house painted yellow?"
"um, yes it was."
"HA!!! It's painted white!!! YOU'RE GOING DOWN BITCH!!!!"
They persecuted Matha Stewart so that the celebrity-gawking media would spread the secret message far and wide: "There must not be any sharks in the pool because the Feds are hunting minnows! And the SEC certainly doesn't watch porn all day! Dive in, sheeple!"
My understanding is only 2 reasons people plead the fifth: one is to avoid self-incrimination. The other is to avoid naming names. For example: if someone asked her who in the IRS told her to target conservative groups, pleading the fifth would help her and others avoid that pain. Apparently she tried to have it both ways: plead her innocence and not have to name names. Too bad it doesn't work that way. But what do I know?
Correct. The Fifth only protects against self-incrimination, not incrimination of others. There are other privileges that may apply to the latter but I can't think of any that would apply. Executive privilege wouldn't apply to her (and it is not well defined anyway), and it's not what the IRS does is a "national security" issue. God knows what they'll come up with.
She will be in a position to plea bargain and it's the others up the food chain they want to take down anyway.
Or they cut a deal with her already to avoid said food chain being taken down. I'm not sure that "they" have any interest in doing anything but protecting the bigger fish.
CYA in DC
If they cut a deal, let's hope "they" are smarter than the guys who cut a deal with Oliver North. They were so hot to get him to testify, they gave him limited immunity and then he said he did it! Seriously, a thing of beauty from a stategy stand point. His convictions were all over turned as a result. Killer is, he got the ACLU to help him out in the process.
My understanding is only 2 reasons people plead the fifth: one is to avoid self-incrimination. The other is to avoid naming names.
There is actually a third reason - fear of being prosecuted even though you are innocent. That reasoning could apply in this case.
In the 2001 case Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “a witness may have a reasonable fear of prosecution and yet be innocent of any wrongdoing. The [Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination] serves to protect the innocent who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.” This case beefed up an earlier ruling that prosecutors can’t ask a jury to draw an inference of guilt from a defendant’s refusal to testify in his own defense.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-agains...
Give it a rest. You don't get tell everyone you are innocent and then plea the fifth at the same time. She said she was innocent now it has to be proved.
It is a right not to self incriminate. But her blathering on about not doing anything illegal was a statement clearly out of context with asserting that right.
I also do not think this was a mistake. The object of this, and to some extent previous administrations, is to sow as much confusion and misery as possible. It is being achieved. Add the arrogance to the fact that NO ONE likes the IRS and you have blood boiling.
This administration has decided that the Constitution means whatever it wants it to mean. (Previous ones did also, but to a lesser extent IMHO.) Perhaps these jerks really thought they could plead the Fifth anyway. And/or perhaps they didn't believe that any Republicans had the courage to actually stand up to their lies and obfuscations. What happened to Holder regarding Fast & Furious? Or the Black Panther vote suppression thing in 2008? Or the rape and pillage of GM bodnholders, or the selective closing of GM and Chrysler dealerships whose owners were Republicans? Or any of the numerous voter fraud cases. Well, you get the point. Boehner, McConnell et al can usually be trusted to fold like an old suit.
So many possible conspiracy theories; who knows which is real? I just wish they'd all go away - North Korea, perhaps - and leave the rest of us alone. Or, better yet, turn it into a reality TV series, Survivor DC.
+16 trillion! Scumbags=holder, corzine, irs sleazers et al. Market manipulation, election manipulation, enough is enough!
... her blathering on about not doing anything illegal was a statement clearly out of context with asserting that right.
Not so. One more time:
One may take the fifth out of fear of being prosecuted even though you are innocent. That reasoning could apply in this case.
In the 2001 case Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “a witness may have a reasonable fear of prosecution and yet be innocent of any wrongdoing. The [Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination] serves to protect the innocent who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.” This case beefed up an earlier ruling that prosecutors can’t ask a jury to draw an inference of guilt from a defendant’s refusal to testify in his own defense.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-agains...
Being innocent and saying you are innocent are two different things.
She is the fall guy, and they need the public to believe it. She gets hauled in to testify, makes her statement, then pleads the 5th..Issa goes ape shit and hauls her ass back in, where she will plead the 5th again and get slapped with contempt...Joe Public says she's the guilty IRS rogue...another big (unrelated) media story breaks and all is soon forgotten...speaking of which, did you hear the FBI shot another Russian terrorist that knew those other Russian terrorists, and while we're on the subjects of terrorists, did you see what happened in London today? Holy shit!!! Now, what were we talking about again?
This PoS is a lawyer as well.
This was not an accident.
Lois Lerner's Attorney from Firm with "Unusually Close" Ties to the
White House
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/22/Lois-Lerner-attorney-...
Congressman Trey Gowdy immediatly made the point that by making a statement she waived her right. He is a Constitutional conservative and a very smart guy. Good job Trey!
She got bad legal advice I guess. Probably a former IRS attorney. Too bad Lerner.
Her attorney is William W. Taylor III. Who is William W. Taylor III?
In our view, no bail is required to ensure Mr. Strauss-Kahn’s appearance. He is an honorable man. He has only one interest at this time and that is to clear his name.
– William W. Taylor III, a partner at Zuckerman Spaeder, at a bail hearing for his client, former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
I did watch the entire thing. In fact, I skipped Ben's blatherfest to stay on the IRS hearing...as I believe what we have here is a coming Constitutional crisis. Pending...
Now is the time for all good Republicans to do their jobs. Will they...remains to be seen. But the testimony today in this hearing was quite foreboding...such was my thought as it concluded.
Not that we don't already have enough fires burning...but this one could be very big, my brothers...but remains in the "we shall see" category.
What is this Constitution you speak of? If it is important, I'm sure it would have been brought up in my high school history courses.
Also, there are no good Republicans.
If you want to do the hopeless 2 party system rant...feel free. I agree.
But also...we shall see. This is a serious DC shitstorm unfolding just now. I would not underestimate it. That is all I am saying, brother.
My father thinks the same way. I have no faith in my "representatives". I think we have reached the point that "good men" do what only they can. You know that I have great respect for you, brother.
I still have some faith. I have Mitch Mcconnell on the one hand, but I've also got Rand Paul and Thomas Massie to counterbalance his weaseliness...Time will tell where all this stuff goes. The racial undertones dampen a lot of people's desire to see this through and repair this country's soul. obama and his handlers are counting on this.
A good Republican is one who cuts the legs out from under any Democrat/Progressive fascist.
Similarly, a good Democrat is one who cuts the legs out from under any Republican/extremist fascist.
The Constitution? It was/is a ship, I think. Or a convenient excuse a politician uses to justify his actions, however dishonorable.
I also feel the IRS discrimnation comes directly from the top. The long-legged Mack Daddy and Chicago cohorts think they are above the law, untouchable. We shall see.
Absolutely correct...and yes...we shall see.
"I believe what we have here is a coming Constitutional crisis" what's a constitution ?
I have a constitutional every morning.
"Now is the time for all good Republicans to do their jobs."
How can anyone continue to believe Republicans want to restore our Constitutional Republic? What, pray tell, is in it for them?
I ask in all sincerity.
Back in the 70s, they were concerned that Nixon would move troops into the Capitol. Obama has a very good relationship with his Special Forces. Maybe he will declare Martial Law, or do what Caesar did - cross the Rubicon?
Obama always admired Hugo Chavez. Now comes his chance to emulate Chavez as well.
Can a witness disappear?
she is a dumbass lawyer who thought she was smarter than the panel by blabbing. Now she just screwed herself. They better throw the book at her. I would say they should throw the tax code at her but the 70lb 10's of thousands of pages of tax code is too heavy to throw
There is more to what she did. I am not sure what. Maybe it was the typical govt arrogance that this criminal could not help herself saying I did nothing wrong tehn takes the fifth. She probably broke a lot of laws and harassed a lot of people but these evil sociopaths have no conscience.
In theater, this is called waiver-ception. This is theater afterall.
I refuse to answer that question on the grounds that what I just said may have incriminated me.
I refuse to answer any questions because I have done nothing wrong. Yeah, that'll hold up in court. lulz lulz lulz
I refuse to answer any questions because I have done nothing wrong. Yeah, that'll hold up in court.
Yes - it will.
In the 2001 case Ohio v. Reiner, the U.S. Supreme Court held that “a witness may have a reasonable fear of prosecution and yet be innocent of any wrongdoing. The [Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination] serves to protect the innocent who otherwise might be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances.” This case beefed up an earlier ruling that prosecutors can’t ask a jury to draw an inference of guilt from a defendant’s refusal to testify in his own defense.
http://criminal.findlaw.com/criminal-rights/fifth-amendment-right-agains...
she is fishing for immunity from prosecution for everything, including today's perjury. i say prove the bitch is guilty and send her to prison for that, obstruction, racketeering, the works. find the bitch guilty, give her a hundred years, let her rot until owebama pardons her, then wait until the repugs take over again and go full vendetta against the dems.
Only she didn't refuse to testify she gave a declaration under oath.