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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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LOL Good one!
Where is the F.B.I.?
How about the Deparment of the Treasury?
The rule-of-law and enforcement appears completely absent.
The CONgress will make a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing (as usual).
Where are the vans hauling away computers and filing cabinets? The perps in handcuffs?
Guess that "honor" is reserved for us serfs.
ah, there is that term i haven't seen in awhile....
rule. of. law.
without it, unconditionally, where is amerika anyways??
The F, the B and the I were down in Orlando. Either visiting Disney World or Saving the World (from unspecifiable types of terrorism, lest they appear racist), but I'm not sure which world they were really interested in.
The DoT was busy preparing for Obamacare. Can't multitask, so they're doing what comes naturally - ie preparing to screw We the People in new ways.
And if any computers and filing cabinets are hauled away, rest assured that it will be the administration doing it to protect national security. Meaning we will never see any of it again.
THe FBI was too busy cleaning up loose ends in Florida from the Boston Bombings
without that 5th, folks used to be TORTURED into confessing bullshit against themselves, then being burned at the stake, disembowled, hearts ripped out, ect.
Then came glorious America and her constitition and bill of rights that those conservitive tea party Ron Paul folks dare to teach and remind Americans of their rights.. No CRUEL and UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT and no TORTURE.
Took us how many thousands of years to get this .. and shit heads have no clue how precious this is for mankind.
No torture? Have you been alseep for the past fifteen years? Ever hear of waterboarding? Electrodes to the testicles? Oh that's right Roman citizens have more rights than enemy combatants.
Except now all Americans may suddenly find themselves to be enemy combatants, by order of the Lord High Poobah, 2for22.
You didn't get the memo? If another country does it for you, or non-government contractors paid with government money do it for you in another country, now it's not your problem legally.
Although, you have to recognize that after what they have done (and are doing) to society as a whole, torturing bankers, financiers, speculators, etc. sounds like a very tempting enterprise... :):):)
Hey Jason - "rendition"?
I guess you graduated at the bottom of your class in 'trolling'.
Oh god. Not the "I don't recall" phase.
Is that before or after the "What difference does it make?" phase?
I love I don't recall. I recall hearing that shit thirty years ago.
Fucking arrogant cunt.
Long winded bitch does her little rant and then walks out.
Hope this bitch gets it good.
...and long. And Hard.
..In the eye socket
Was an ID 10 T form involved?
dumb bitch, Issa gave her just enough rope to hang herself. (wonder how much WE are paying for those incompetent lawyers(?) of hers too). get the popcorn out.
She's safe according to this mob.... http://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=2&ARTICLE_ID=38205
If Obama had a white wife she would look like Lois Lerner.
is the IRS replying to my message? hello, I take the 5th.
edit: or is it DOD, DHS, EPA, FUKU, etc, etc, tcs, oh, I want some alpahebt soup. See you all in court.
If Obama had a white wife she would look like Lois Lerner.
He does...his name is Rham Emanuel
hah!!!
You think that was funny.....you think I'm kidding .....?
Wait til you see this.....
http://blogs.suntimes.com/sweet/2011/02/rahm_emanuel_ballet_dancer_how.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/debra-levine/return-to-ballet-world-fo_b_7...
This is worthy of williambanzai7......
http://scottystarnes.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/goon-lake.jpg
And this one is just wrong....
"If I wasn't a gay ballerina....I'd be tearing your shriveled ass up!"
http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/rahm-emanuel...
why the heck would I think you're kidding, unless you work for them, and we will find out if you do...there is no hiding, no longer, we will give our lives for the the truth...we will not take innocents, we will not betray our solemn cause, we will expose, death do us part. that said, the dainty balarina (sp) did work some time cuttin meat for Arby's and lost a thumb in the process, maybe a weiner, oh, how much fun he sould have had.
NO..NO...wasn't a dig at you !
Just an emphasis that this shit is both FUNNY and DISTURBING as well.
And yeah....the truth will out......well...depends on how one defines "truth"
....and "justice"
....and...of course...."the American Way".
And Obama's and the IRS's and the DOJ's definition of all three of the above are...shall we say....slightly different than the rest of us.
think we have the 'fall guy' (woman)
Heather Locklear was the first woman poster ever in my room.
I think you are referring to Heather Thomas ("Fall Guy").
Mine was Farrah Fawcett in the red swimsuit..... 1976
http://geekmodeonline.com/mattels-farrah-fawset-barbie/
I humbly suggest the IRS and press freedom 'scandals' are Administration-orchestrated events designed to distract from something they feel is catastrophic; maybe Benghazi, maybe Hildebeast's election chances.
Something worries them. This ain't it. Did you see Holder admitted to killing Americans with drones in Yemen? I feel we will see more of this type of admission as the weeks pass. They will be tossing all sorts of normally - damaging shit on the fire while we listen to Lois.
We will know how worried they are when they release the college transcripts or he admits to being gay. (NTTAWWT)
But will he ever release his real birth certificate?
I wonder where Obama will be buried when he passes. So many people will want to piss on his grave.
At sea , like Usama body double.
One of the best moments of my life was when I pissed on Richard Nixon's grave. LBJ is my next target. Then Reagan. As Slim Pickins said - YAHOO!
Lois Lerner has nothing to be worried about, she's in the drivers seat. She already has the presidential pardon locked in a safe, she's just waiting for the money to be transferred.
Hmm, very strange.
My sense is they want a "special prosecutor" assigned, that way they can drag this thing out for years and control the lawyer(s).
The two priorities are Immigration Bill and 2014 Congressional elections. If they can get these (win the House), then the political landscape changes and no one will ever remember (Lois who? ) and the Repubs will go the way of the Whigs.
High stakes, a big gamble, but they want to hit a homerun. Maybe the Repubs will see the freight train heading down the tracks their way. Doubtful.
sschu
A special prosecutor could be dangerous if the PresNit is guilty. It is better to let the House hack away at it on their own. The key to the PresNit's survival is to get the MSM back to covering his backside. I predict they will do just that within 2 weeks. The House investigation will not be heard of except on Fox, Drudge, and ZH.
Like I said yesterday, there is your patsy. She is going down for the whole thing unless she talks and names names.
And she might get rubbed out if she does that.
could this really be cover for some other indignity the pols and elites are going to spring on us
The Senate comittee passed the "new" Immigration Bill. Essentially allowing 11M illeagls to collect US Fed and State benefits, as well as NOT to have to pay back taxes (Chuck Schumer got this written into Bill). Sounds like a great plan if one wants to INCREASE unemployment and deflation which would require moar QE.
If their true objective was to DECREASE unemployment and deflation, why would you pass a Bill that will INCREASE unemployment, INCREASE deflation, and increase the Federal (and most sanctuary) States budget deficits ?
Why ?
The Dems want campaign issues, not real legislation transformed into actual laws. Must keep those low information voters riled up regarding those heartless Republicans, who want to simultaneously enslave every illegal alien and deport them and their US born children back to the hellhole from which they came. See, it's hard to keep saying that the Repubs want to kill granny when it is now clear that Obamacare will set up death panels for just that end, so a new campaign issue is needed.
Not that any of this matters. The republic has expired; it's only a matter of time before the corpse starts to smell enough for the sheeple to notice.
The House will never pass this bill.
I hope you are right. From some of the things I have read online, I think you are.
Crushing lower middle class with cheap labor.
Because you just went long PMs?
Why?
Dilution, multiculturalism, less in common with those already there....
Someone for everyone who were already there to despise, take out their frustration and vengeance on.
Many reasons. But most of them have the combined effect of diluting the threat, purpose, 'one-ness', voice, rage, sense of shared national heritage or national spirit of any group in opposition to those currently in power.
Or something along those lines.
Beware, One of the scariest questions to be asked sometime in the future from a group of people will be...
"You ain't from around here are ya???"
Good, bad, indifferent, A time to be amongst your own peeps.
(see Sweden, UK, Germany, Greece........ )
That also guarantees that it ain't passing the House, which is probably the whole idea. Old Chuck-U Grandstander knows what he is doing.
So how much is this re-subpoena going to cost the taxpayers? I am sick of this clown show.
Can I submit tax returns just by scrawling "I plead the 5th" on every page?
Great question!
The federal courts has ruled yes, but you must do it on the W4 or then you can't.
Actually, no, you can't. Heads, they win. Tails, you lose.
How to disconnect from the IRS
So now we know she is not good at math and she is not a good lawyer.
I bet she swallows.
Who paid for that advice..... LOL
I will be absolutely shocked if this all goes anywhere. couple firings? promise to create a "special" commision LOL. this is a distraction. but from what? benghazi-gate? immigration? something else under the radar? anyone notice how N Korea went from imminent war to not even existing?
Go to Lame Cherry's blog about 3-4 days ago for why North Korea disappeared from the news. The site is weird plus you wade through crap, try to figure out some of the code but you can read about things before they happen sometimes.
Part of the NK thing is Boston bombing followed later by Putin's ass beat down of the CIA or as he calls Mockingbird for CIA's Operation Mockingbird.
That site and another one have said a lot of the dirt coming out on Obama are from Putin and more is coming. My guess is Syria is one of the reasons.
Michele Bachmann says it is a distraction from Benghazi. There is only one way this makes sense. The Obamites must have been doing something really bad in Benghazi when the whole op went south. Maybe it really was an attempt at a staged kidnapping so they could stage a rescue and make Obama look like a hero before the election?
Lois used to work for the Federal Election Committee, she's a career criminal.
Can we invoke the three strikes rule and prison for life for this bitch?
How the hell does a public fucking servant invoke the 5th? Also the 5th says nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." Is this a criminal case? I don't think so, it is a congressional enquirey. And the Republicans just let it happen. There is ONE PARTY IN WASHINGTON. A PARTY OF THIEVES!
Oh, I will take this opportunity to remind all reading this post, The Ordinance of 1789 says that it is irrevocable law and that the federal taxes collected from within the states are to be at the authority and direction of the state legislatures. The IRS violates this irrevocable law.
All of DC are public servants.
It's nice, in a way, to see that at least one part of that amendment has some attraction to the current administration's minions. Other parts not so much.
Deprived of life without due process of law: with Obama the judge, jury and executioner (in other words, HE is due process).
Deprived of property without due process of law: like the GM bondholders and how Barry treated them (in other words, HE is due process).
Private property taken without just compensation: GM and Chrysler bondholders, shareholders, etc. Were the unions who benefitted considered 'public use'?
And speaking of US law, I believe that the Declaration of Independence is part of US Code. It contains the following: "But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security." Any volunteers to see of SCOTUS would uphold this?
Methinks that the SCOTUS never actually read the CONSTITUTION. it's surprising that these fools think that the shit that they make up (as in precedents) are actually LAW!!
Who are these people?
I wonder if they know that they are TRAITERS?
Traitor, Now there is a term you don't hear very much in DC anymore...
Is this a criminal case?
Criminal charges have been leveled against her by congressmen (as oppossed to civil charges). Because of these criminal charges, she is allowed to take the fifth. And she is allowed to take the fifth at the same time that she proclaims her innocence. I've posted the legal reference regarding this several times above.
Didn't that MFGlobal chick who took the fifth also make a statement? Pretty sure she did.
When do the hangings begin?
I hope they use rope made of hemp.
not soon enough
Lois Lerner should receive guidance from Eric Holder about how to ignore senate hearings.
Or, in this case, House hearings.
Fuck that bitch. Put her in prison.
So appropriate this is on youtube during Youtube Comedy Week :)
she better not get on a helicopter with fbi
Speaking about the fbi are they killing suspects during interrogation now?
http://www.myfoxorlando.com/story/22382085/fbi-agent-shoots-man-dead-in-orlando
They don't even seem to hide it anymore.
Did that woman go to 'Law Skool' in Zimbabwe?
This clownette is likely to end up on a Bored of Edukashun somewhere.
More likely Kenya.
The IRS pleads the 5TH. J Lenos comedy writers should pay for such comedy monologue material.
Corzine did the same thing when he was called before Congress. Some said the same thing. That he waived his fifth amendment privilege before asserting it. He was never subpoenaed again or charged with contempt. Some people get to play with loaded dice.
Now the only good thing that can come from this is if she sings and implicates those higher up in the chain of command - so we know the truth.
What this does is point out to the obvious to most but now to all Obama supporters that there is criminal activity going on inside the IRS. Remember the WH said this was just about some rogue low level employees in Cincy. More to come.
Rather than being about some rogue low level employees in Cincy, it is about a rogue high(est)-level employee from Chicago. But the True Believers will never notice, as long as their SNAP cards get refilled and their Obamaphones keep working.
LoL! The dumbass Issa shouldn't have let her leave in the first place, this is not a criminal trial. And she is a public servant.
... this is not a criminal trial.
But criminal charges have been leveled against her by congressmen. And since she has been compelled to take the stand in her own defense, so to speak, she is allowed to take the fifth. Since she was taking the fifth and contributing nothing to the conversation, there was no point in keeping her. And I'm sure Issa wants to get his ducks in a row re. his charge that she waived her right to take the fifth.
I see smugness.
I see arrogance.
I suspect she probably consulted an IRS attorney as opposed to hiring from the outside.
Additionally, She knows damn well that there is literally NOTHING Congress can do to her without enforcement.
As enforcement is DOJ / Holder territory, IT AIN'T GONNA HAPPEN. Period. Full stop. End of story.
Finally, given that a Presidential administration and the muscle behind the grand liberal agenda potentially hangs in the balance, she has probably already been sent a message to keep the mouth closed or bad things may befall her.
People have assumed room temperature for far far less.
I saw all that leave her body today.
As to enforcement, they could possibly just call the Senate's Sergeant-at-Arms to arrest her on a contempt charge so the involvement of the DoJ would be nil. The S-a-A has the power of arrest and detention over anyone violating Senate rules, but I don't know if this can be construed to extend to a charge of contempt of Congress or of the Senate in particular. As an interesting note, I believe the Capitol had its own brig at one point in the past for the use of the House and Senate S-a-A. This could get interesting. :-)
BURN HER - BURN THE IRS TO THE GROUND. Fuck those souless bastards.
Is that raaaaacist?
Probably. What has happened to Francis_Sawyer? Have not seen him commenting on any articles I've read for some time.
Strange , Lois was not Honorable ???
She would have been better off hiring Dave Chapelle. .
Literally the IRS is not responsible for any legal tax advice they give to taxpayers. The IRS can literally fine or incarcerate you for following the advice they give you in filling out your tax forms. Also having a bad accountant is not an excuse, ask Willie Nelson.
how does it feel to be on the receiving end of an uncomfortable grilling bitch?
ROPE.
There's no way her lawyer didn't know that speaking prior to invoking the 5th amendment would screw her
This is theatre and a big distraction
She's either being voluntarily offered up as a sacrifice or this a distraction for something bigger going on or about to happen
Seeing all the comings and goings.Unscheduled G7 meeting(last weekend),in
camera economic briefings to congresional committes.
I'm not leaving money in the banl over this long holiday weekend.
Got cash ?
One day, people will wake up, and the world will be a different place, far beyond their imagining.
Politicians never admit their failed policies create chaos, while they protect themselves from the chaos.
A British soldier was beheaded today outside a military barrack in London on his way to an event for 'Help the Heroes'. The killers were shot by police. The killers told a woman who confronted them that they wanted to start a war.
The killers are a product of Western politics, Nazionism, using Wahabbist extremists. Just another form of social tension and social control by the international central banksters: Rothschild Zionism. Operation Gladio in Italy. Operatiion Northwoods in the USA.
Operation Paperclip, giving Nazis safe refuge in the USA after WWII. The Trilateral Commission - all for a new world order. Fascists.
Biden has the bare faced cheek to talk about a new world order this past week. Nazi Soros funded O'bomba's rise to national prominence. I don't blame Obama, the idealist. I blame the Nazionists who chose him and he was too stupid to see how his arrogance was easily used.
newengland, if may ask my young friend, what has gotten into you? I see that you are coining your own words now. I take that as a creative positive. You are a better writer than you think. Unfortunately, you are focusing your efforts on things many of us have known since the 90's and earlier. You are making a racial and religious matter out of it as well. You won't see a lot of racist or religionist diatribe out of me and there is reason why. I judge an individual by whether that person an asshole or not.(and I take notes)
Dear Manipuflation,
I am a Yankee, for better or worse.
I am the least racist or religionist, although I will comment on how those matters motivate events.
When the heart speaks, take notes :-) My friend, although we may disagree politely.
The Obamas are coming to Martha's Vineyard again this summer. They need our protection, however much I may dislike their banksters.
Dearest newengland,
I did not accuse you of racism or religionism. I simply called the question. Who cares about those red herring topics anyway? I won't sit and debate stupid shit like race or religion. You are good writer and seem bored. You know you love to write and blog so why don't you?
Dear Manipuflation,
I was the only American to write and broadcast in all main stream media in the UK.
Yes, I am bored with BS. That's why I admire ZH.
My father said: don't get angry, get even.
ZH is brilliant.
So it goes. True. However, I meant why not write an article and not just a post on ZH or some other blog? Why do I ask? Because I would like to read said article were you to bring it into existence. You certainly have the potential do even better than getting even.
Maybe they got her a quack lawyer.
isa Is Full Of It . No Fan Of irs , But One May Invoke Ones Constitutional Rights At Any time.
Not true - listen to Mark Levin on Thursday.
It could only get better at this point if they caught her tomorrow morning trying to board a private jet to Costa Rica.
Not bad. Hadn't thought of that one. I figured if she's going to squeal she'll end up at the top of the Obama death pool and die from something like "suicide"
http://www.knowthelies.com/node/7882
or maybe the BFI will claim that she tried to attack them when they went to speak with her
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/10073522/FBI-shoot-dead-man-with-links-to-Boston-bomber-Tamerlan-Tsarnaev.html
This is more constitution-shredding.
It is IDIOTIC to say that one can "accidentally waive" their 5th amerndment right. That's not true, never has been.
Also, I've seen it a million times, that a witness can selectively answer some questions but plead the 5th on other questions. It's a RIGHT.
Just sayin'. Warning! Look out! They are absolutely spectacular at convincing us that "rights" are "priviledges."
P.S. She's a scumbag, I'm not defending her.
There is no view that she 'accidentally' waived her right to remain silent, but rather that she voluntarily did so by stating under oath that her previous statements of fact to this and other committees were truths. One can debate the meaning of Mitchell v United States, but once she makes an assertion about a set of facts, her prior statements, she likely must answer questions related to the investigation of relevant details.
I can't believe counsel approved the reading of the statement after she had been sworn in and answered a few questions. The suspicion that she 'wants' pressure to speak may be false, but it's common for career civil servants to go the extra mile so that they can deny the voluntary nature of any truthful testimony they ultimately provide. We'll see. This isn't going away.
You seem like a cool guy, but you're wrong. The fact that she spoke "facts" or "assertions of innocence" has never mattered before. It can be like this:
Q: Were you at the crime scene?
A: Yes.
Q: When did you leave?
A: I plead the 5th.
Q: Were you there when the moon was full?
A: Yes, but I am innocent.
Q: What were you doing?
A: I plead the 5th.
Q: Were you lying in your deposition when you said the moon was full?
A: I am innocent, I am proud of my tits, I like puppies and my job. I am sweet and I service my husband when he needs it.
Q: Do you own a kitchen knife?
A: I plead the fifth.
A person can say whatever they want, profess innocence, and then selectively plead the fifth on a different question. It has always been this way.
glad we have all those thoughtful, compassionate, nurturing women in high office, our gov reflects this change in the intrusion in all our lives of those who would mother us all..a nation led by women has become the most corrupt and murderous gang in our history.
That's what happens when you have a government of the favored classes, by the favored classes, for the favored classes. Spend 5 mins in the state department and try not to get run over by at least a half dozen obese lesbians riding around on tax payer purchased hoverounds. These are your rocket surgeons that Obama tears up about when whining over the sweequester.
LOL
"...Spend 5 mins in the state department and try not to get run over by at least a half dozen obese lesbians riding around on tax payer purchased hoverounds..."
brilliant
I didn't know they were issued Segways or Scooters? Learn something new every day.
I feel so much safer now ... thanks for the visual ... and to think they will all retire on a 100,000 a year pension.
Can you believe the State Department phone directory is 51 fuckin pages long?
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/112065.pdf
Liberals ... I never cease to be amazed at their gall. Just think, this lady has a budget of $100,000,000.00 of your money. Money well spent.
A 100M budget for an office of 900 people isn't all that much. It is almost all salary. $100M/900 people = 111K/person. The FedGov has about a 50% benefit surcharge on the stabilized OPM billing rates, so they make 74K apiece, assuming that overhead is covered from some other pot of money. If the overhead comes from her budget, they probably make more like 45-50K apiece. That would make her employees GS-11 if overhead is not in her budget or GS-7 or 8 if it is.
http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/salaries-wages/2011/g...
Her lawyers cant be that dumb. Must have been done on purpose so when she exposes how high up this goes she can say she was forced to do it. No doubt in my mind ..
She most likely ignored the advice of her lawyer - because as you know she is SO MUCH SMARTER THAN THE REST OF US. Just like Obungle.
Why do they need to bother? The House can simply give her use immunity and make her testify anyway, just like they did with Oliver North decades ago. Maybe her lawyers really are that incompetent, or it was staged for some other reason. Or maybe the dumb bitch simply didn't listen to her lawyers.
I don't believe a single word from any of these lying fucks. Its offensive as hell to listen to them try to convince us that some low level schmucks had the motive and authority to come up with this strategy. "We're sorry."
An apology?? Yeah, well fuck you! Burn her at the stake. I agree with a prior poster. BURN THEM ALL TO THE GROUND.
You know your 'justice' system is FUBAR'ed when the whole thing has become one giant "Gotcha" minefield.
I should hope the effort to attain "gotcha" leads to detailed honest determination of facts as to 'what did they know and when did they know it?' There is no point to assessing the stylistic merits of the political speeches when we already know that a key politically important office of the IRS (one whose decisions affect election fundraising) was bent to the interests of one faction of our electorate. Pursue the truth. Write about the culture of Spy v Spy (Mad Magazine...) later.
As hateful as this bitch and her gestapo agency are, you have to have a little empathy for someone who is about to go home and swallow a lethal dose of medication. One can only hope.
Dumb fucking cunt. When all you do is lie, you eventually will fuck up by covering over lies with more lies. Bring the whole thing down.
Don't get played here bro. I took her opening statement to mean that the law does not apply to their actions. That's what that really was. I call tyranny because "eventually" is getting very close to being over. Peace IR.
I smell a deal.
Once you're sworn in, you make a statement claiming innocence then you are testifying and waived your right to plead the 5th. This applies for a defendant.
As a witness she has more leeway and can choose to invoke the 5th to any question.
Does a Congrssional hearing follow the same rules as a Grand Jury? Was she subpoened as a defendant or witness?
A CYA bit of theater? "They made me tell." but I got immunity. Sorry Bam.
I'd laugh my ass off.
I want Lerner in jail or ruined financially. Her venal, self serving vile apparatchik ways intimidated and ruined innocent people's trust in government.
Shulman is even worse, judging by his smug testimony today. Jail him too or ruin him financially. There is no statue of limitations on malfeasance in his case.
The old men of the BIS were turned over by the young guns who created unregulated otc derivatives which ruined the global financial system.
The very least that can be done now is to hold to account the venal, spiteful apparatchiks whose incompetence or arrogance exploited weaknesses in the system, and seek to profit from it, and meander off into some tax paid comfortable retirement.
NO. I pay for results, not snivelling bureaucrats.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity"
What a load of crap... was Hitler stupid? Was Stalin? Mao?
So, I apologize in advance if I reiterate the point that others have made 30 times by now. Let me understand this fully................ Did I just hear the IRS/Lerner state that both the STATE and the individual are one in the same? And that they both deserve protection under the Fifth Amendment of the Bill of Rights?
She is a parvenu, an arriviste, a grand manipulator. Whatever she says is self-serving at this point in time. She is an arrogant and incompetent apparatchik, a failed bureaucrat.
Jail her or ruin her financially, and Shulman.
It suits them to make the State and the individual one thing, so they can do whatever they wish, and claim supremacy.
Straight out of the Nazi playbook.
Problem for the Nazis: fix this problem - Lerner and Shulman.
" the real question is what is the public's attention being distracted from."
That's the question that has been worrying me.
Tsk.
Deal with this issue, and other issues in other places. Stop obfuscating.
Noted off the web:
- - - - - - -
I’m quite surprised that no one has mentioned Section 1203 of the Internal Revenue Code, which mandates terminations of IRS employees who commit any of what are known in the Service as the “10 Deadly Sins.” Passed in the 19990s after the last major Congressional hearings (Revenue Reform Act of 1998), section 1203 is the neutron bomb that hangs over employees. Violations of 1203 are supposed to be non-negotiable, with termination the only result, although I believe the Commissioner can mitigate and sometimes does, usually in cases involving non-wilfull understatement of tax liability.
At any rate, you’ll notice that several of these provisions could be applicable in the present instance, notably (b) (2), (b) (3) (A), and (b) (7). If I were Ms. Lerner, Mr. Miller (who relied heavily on 6103 in his testimony), or anyone in that chain, 1203 would be a huge concern. It is for every Service employee, which is why I and others were always very cautious about taking unapproved initiative in areas that skated close to 1203. (Getting that signature, for example, even in Title 18 seizures, which probably aren’t covered. But when you’re talking “shall terminate the employment” “probably” isn’t safe enough.)
I’m not a lawyer. I don’t know if these provisions would apply in the present case, but I and every employee are acutely conscious that they exist. This is why the concept of “two rogue employees” is so far-fetched for me. They would have to be very “rogue” to take their chances with 1203. Much more “rogue” than anybody I knew at IRS.
Finally, I’d note that when I was working at IRS-CID, taking the Fifth in any proceeding was grounds for termination. I have no idea whether that’s true for other IRS employees, but a Special Agent could never take five and survive. You don’t have a constitutional right to a government job.
http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2013/05/on-irc-section-1203.php
This political theater allows wrongdoing. Lerner, Shulman and Miller should be in a criminal court, not an embarrassing inquisition before Congress which demeans us all because there are criminal charges to answer, not nicey testimony not under oath without serious consequences for perjury and wrongdoing.
It [the State] has taken on a vast mass of new duties and responsibilities; it has spread out its powers until they penetrate to every act of the citizen, however secret; it has begun to throw around its operations the high dignity and impeccability of a State religion; its agents become a separate and superior caste, with authority to bind and loose, and their thumbs in every pot. But it still remains, as it was in the beginning, the common enemy of all well-disposed, industrious and decent men.
H.L. Mencken, 1926
I very much doubt that modern journalists know the name H.L. Mencken, and his works. Foreigners even less so.
They don't gotta burn the books, they just remove 'em
RATM
Quite so.
Training for journalists nowadays has nothing to do with teaching them how to ask searching questions and hold the ruling elites to account on behalf of the citizenry. It has everything to do with training them how to read out official press releases and present official information as intended, in an authoritative manner, without sniggering. There's no requirement for them to have any knowledge or understanding of H L Mencken. That is sooooo last century.....
Speaking of cronyism and revolving doors her lawyer and law firm must have taken a their que from Wall Street/Regulatory Agencies/FED.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/05/22/Lois-Lerner-attorney-...
On Wednesday, Internal Revenue Service (IRS) senior official Lois Lerner, the director of the division that singled out conservative groups for scrutiny, pleaded the 5th Amendment at congressional hearings. The lawyer by her side at the hearings, William Taylor III of Zuckerman Spaeder, comes from a firm with unusually close ties to the Obama White House Counsel’s Office and Department of Justice.Zuckerman Spaeder has remarkably close ties to the Obama Administration. As The Washingtonian reported in 2012, “it appears that no other law firm has sent a higher percentage of partners into the Obama administration than Zuckerman Spaeder, a litigation boutique with fewer than 100 lawyers.” Among them:
Beyond the White House, several senior Department of Justice officials come from the firm. Presumably, it would be the DOJ that would conduct any criminal investigation. These include:
Beyond those two power centers, Zuckerman Spaeder attorneys also pepper other agencies. William Schultz, a partner at the firm, is General Counsel at the Department of Health and Human Services. Lisa Barclay, a partner at the firm, is the Chief of Staff at the Food and Drug Administration.
Although the legal community is Washington can be tight knit, this sort of interlinking relationships is unusual when one considers previous high profile cases involving political scandal. Scooter Libby, aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, hired Ted Wells of Paul Weiss as his attorney when he faced legal inquiries concerning the leak of CIA information. That legal firm did not have unusually close ties to the Bush Administration. Oliver North chose Brendan Sullivan of Williams and Connolly, which likewise had no unusually close ties to the Reagan Administration.
One case that does fit the pattern: Edith O’Brien, the central figure in the Jon Corzine MF Global case, selected Reid Weingarten as his attorney. Weingarten is Attorney General Eric Holder’s self-described “best friend.” O’Brien has yet to be charged or granted immunity in the case.
While we are on revolving doors and the IRS and the DOJ guess who this implicates.
http://dcclothesline.com/2013/05/21/attorney-general-holder-connected-to...
Is it possible that Attorney General Eric Holder was giving the IRS information on who to target back in 2010? There is a letter on record to suggest that this might just be the case. The letter was sent from Representative Shelia Jackson Lee (D-TX) to Attorney General Eric Holder and requested that his office investigate a conservative group that was soon after targeted by the IRS. As reported late Monday by Brandon Darby of Breitbart.com there is now a possible tie between Eric Holder and the IRS scandal:
This is huge. This is a possible tie between the Obama Administration and the IRS targeting of conservative groups. I am sure the Obama Administration will call this complete coincidence but, since when can we believe them?
If Attorney General Eric Holder would listen to anything that Sheila Jackson Lee said it would be a scandal in and of itself. Let us revisit some of Congresswoman Lee’s most shining moments.
She is believed to have used taxpayer funds to make a trip to speak at Michael Jackson’s memorial service.
She brought the issue of Rush Limbaugh’s attempt to become an NFL owner to the House Floor.
In 1996 she set up a phony interview with “fake” callers who were following a script and acting like “concerned citizens.”
The woman used North and South Vietnam as an example of how neighboring countries can live in harmony. Evidently she does not realize that North Vietnam took over South Vietnam after we withdrew and is now one country.
At an NAACP event she accused Tea Party members of being modern day members of the Ku Klux Klan.
She noted that Republicans refused to raise the debt ceiling because Obama is black.
Sheila Jackson Lee is certainly not someone who should be speaking of integrity in any form and not someone that Eric Holder should be listening to.
Here is a copy of her letter to Holder. This is certainly enough to raise suspicion. Was Eric Holder involved in deciding who was targeted? Or is it just a coincidence? That might depend who you ask.
scribd document of her letter
http://www.scribd.com/doc/142664483/Letter-to-AG-Holder-Regarding-Voter-...
Will she be on the ticket with Hil ?
Wow.
"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.."
Yes and if first you don't succeed try and try again.
This is the same Lois Lerner who sued the Christian Coalition in 1990s for the Federal Election Commission and lost.
News piece on it courtesy of Fox News.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=_HVoLG3mwxU
She's not bad looking but she'd look better with a .45 hole right between her eyes.
The irony is that her sort pull the trigger first, and hide behind lies, and use others as body bags...while she and her sort make a fine legal defense without spending their own blood and treasure.