Darrell Issa: Lois Lerner Takes The 5th, All Hell Breaks Loose, Elijah Cummings Attacks Issa, Gets Caught

The toughest part of this post is writing a title, because not only is there so much in it but it's fall down funny.

Watch the video to the end before you read the following House Oversite Release. Catch Elijah Cummings screed in full.

from 2014.



From the U.S. House Oversite and Government Reform Committee

New Emails: Lois Lerner Funneled Elijah Cummings Info On Targeted Conservative Group

PUBLISHED: APR 9, 2014

Ranking Democrat previously denied his staff contacted the IRS about group True the Vote

WASHINGTON – Newly delivered internal IRS e-mails sent and received by former IRS Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner and other IRS employees show that House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Minority staff, working for Ranking Member Elijah Cummings, began contacting the IRS in August 2012 about targeted non-profit applicant True the Vote. The IRS produced this e-mail on April 2, 2014 – only days after Oversight Committee Members had taken new IRS Commissioner John Koskinen to task for withholding relevant e-mails. The Chairman and five Subcommittee Chairmen on the Oversight Committee today sent a letter to Ranking Member Cummings demanding an explanation for his staff’s queries, why the Minority hid these efforts from the Majority, and why the Ranking Member denied such actions by his staff at a February Subcommittee hearing:

“Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional agency scrutiny, communication records between your staff and IRS officials – which you did not disclose to Majority Members or staff – indicates otherwise,” wrote the Chairman and five Subcommittee Chairmen of the Oversight Committee. “As the Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution holding Ms. Lerner, a participant in responding to your communications that you failed to disclose, in contempt of Congress, you have an obligation to fully explain your staff’s undisclosed contacts with the IRS.”

The letter notes:
The IRS and the Oversight Minority made numerous requests for virtually identical information from True the Vote, raising concerns that the IRS improperly shared protected taxpayer information with Rep. Cummings’ staff.

Five days after Cummings contacted True the Vote seeking “copies of all training materials used for volunteers, affiliates, or other entities,” the IRS sent True the Vote a letterrequesting True the Vote provide “a copy of [True the Vote’s] volunteer registration form,” “…the process you use to assign volunteers,” “how you keep your volunteers in teams,” and “how your volunteers are deployed … following the training they receive by you.”

On or before January 25, 2013, Cummings’ staff requested more information from the IRS about True the Vote. The head of the IRS Legislative Affairs office e-mailed several IRS officials, including former Exempt Organizations Director Lois Lerner, that “House Oversight Committee Minority staff” sought information about True the Vote. On Monday, January 28, Lerner wrote to her deputy Holly Paz: “Did we find anything?” When Paz informed her minutes later that she had not heard back about True the Vote’s information, Lerner replied: “thanks – check tomorrow please.

On January 31, 2013, Paz attached True the Vote’s form 990s, which she authorized the IRS to share with the Minority staff. Neither Cummings nor the IRS shared these requested documents with the Oversight Majority. None of the Minority’s communications about True the Vote with the IRS were shared with the Committee Majority even though Ranking Member Cummings frequently complains about the Committee Majority contacting individuals on official matters without the involvement of Minority staff.

Cummings denied that his staff, “might have been involved in putting True the Vote on the radar screen of some of these Federal agencies” at a February 6, 2014, Subcommittee hearing:

Ms. Mitchell: We want to get to the bottom of how these coincidences happened, and we’re going to try to figure out whether any – if there was any staff of this committee that might have been involved in putting True the Vote on the radar screen of some of these Federal agencies. We don’t know that, but we – we’re going to do everything we can do to try to get to the bottom of how did this all happen.

Mr. Cummings. Will the gentleman yield?

Mr. Meadows. Yes.

Mr. Cummings. I want to thank the gentleman for his courtesy. What she just said is absolutely incorrect and not true.

Click here for a copy of the letter from the Chairman and five Subcommittee Chairman to Ranking Member Cummings.

Click here for documents about Cummings’ interactions with the IRS about a targeted conservative organization.


You tell 'em Congressman Cummings. You tell 'em!

Thank You Congressman Issa and House Oversite.

Holder Rips Darrell Issa And His "Idiot Cronies" For Investigating Fast And Furious Scandal

weaselzippers;

Wait, Eric Holder is a classless jerk?

[Ed; Right, after releasing over 64,000 F&F documents the Day Before a National Midterm Election Holder & Co. knew was going to blow their own MSM's mind, hoping that that release would get buried in the media second guessing that the electorate didn't really mean it. They got bamboozled. They really Are Racists after all and this election Proves it.]

Via The Blaze:

Among the thousands of documents released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday is an email from Attorney General Eric Holder about House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and the investigating into the “Fast and Furious” gun-walking scandal.

In the email, he slammed Issa and his “idiot cronies” over the investigation, claiming that it was politically motivated.

The email chain begins with then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Matthew Axelrod explaining that Issa’s planned to subpoena a witness to testify on the scandal.

“This keeps escalating,” Gary Grindler, a DOJ official at the time, wrote.

Holder then issued his response:

“Ok. We have to be careful. His decision has to truly be his. If he testifies so be it.

Issa and his idiot cronies never gave a damn about this when all that was happening was that thousands of Mexicans were being killed with guns from our country. All they want to do- in reality- is cripple ATF and suck up to the gun lobby. Politics at its worst- maybe the media will get it.”

Keep reading…

"All they want to do- in reality- is cripple ATF " 
[ED; ATF needs Congressional Intervention to become a cripple?]


Incredibly Botched ATF Operation-Machine Gun Stolen, Gun Buyback Over Market Prices, Undercover Agents Names Leaked.

Must read the cited Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article also. Absolutely incredible, even after Fast and Furious.

Via Fox News:

WASHINGTON –  Several members of Congress are calling for an investigation into an embarrassing series of blunders made by the Milwaukee arm of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives after a newspaper reported this week that the agency conducted a months-long undercover operation that cost taxpayers thousands of dollars and netted very few results.

“I am intent on getting to the bottom of the botched ATF sting in Milwaukee,” Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., told FoxNews.com Thursday night.

Sensenbrenner along with Sen. Charles Grassley, and Reps. Darrell Issa and Robert Goodlatte, have sent a letter to Acting ATF Director Todd Jones asking the agency to look into allegations reported in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The newspaper claims that the agency conducted a deeply flawed sting operation that resulted in a still-missing machine gun being taken from an agent’s car, thousands of taxpayer dollars being lost in merchandise and angry residents saying that ATF officials reintroduced crime into their neighborhood. The operation comes on the heels of the botched Operation Fast and Furious anti-gun trafficking program.

“The mismanaged operation included numerous careless and costly mistakes,” Sensenbrenner told FoxNews.com in a written statement. “Along with my colleagues, I am asking the ATF what happened in Milwaukee and who will be held accountable. I want to know how these glaring blunders could happen. How did ATF—for the second time that we know of—put guns in the hands of dangerous criminals?”

According to the newspaper, the ATF created a phony storefront, named it Fearless Distributing, staffed it with undercover agents and created a Facebook page that lured people to the location all under the guise of selling clothes and shoes. The ATF agents handed out business cards with a logo similar to the one from the movie “The Expendables” with the words “buy, sell or trade” on them. Once the store was up and running, agents spread the word that Fearless Distributing was willing to buy guns and drugs.

Part of the problem, the newspaper alleges, is that agents spent taxpayer money to buy guns from people at twice the street value. One ATF agent paid more than $1,200 for a gun that usually sells for $400-$700.

Keep reading…

Thank You The Blaze and Zip.

Redstate.com was somewhat Less charitable about these people who LOST a machine gun.

ATF's Epic Fail In Milwaukee 

But All's Well That End's, . . . as anyone paying attention would Expect it to, 6 months later.

Surprise Outcome: Incompetent ATF Acepts Incompetence As The Norm


Now, what was that about Darrell Issa and HIS 'Idiot Cronies'?


These Fearless ATF bunglers LOST a machine gun, got robbed of $35,000 of merchandise, and left behind sensitive information identifying names, vehicles and phone numbers of undercover agents when they walked away from their 'Sting'?


But Darrell Issa's Cronies are the Idiots?

Really?

Judge Orders Obama Team To Reveal Operation Fast And Furious Documents

weaselzippers;

Holder didn’t see that coming. Previous story.

Via NRO

A federal judge ordered President Obama’s team to hand over some documents pertaining to Operation Fast and Furious and to provide a list of withheld documents.

Once House Republicans see the list of withheld documents, they will have a chance to challenge the withholding of particular documents.

“This Administration has been so intent on hiding the contents of these documents that it allowed Attorney General Holder to be held in contempt instead of just turning them over to Congress,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said of the ruling. “The privilege log will bring us closer to finding out why the Justice Department hid behind false denials in the wake of reckless conduct that contributed to the violent deaths of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry and countless Mexican citizens.”

Keep reading

Thank You NRO and Dapandico.

And the only person more chagrinned than the Attorney General himself is going to be us, when and if, his people actually comply with this Judge's order.

Issa: More Than 20 Obama Officials "Lost Or Destroyed Emails" After House Launched Probes

weaselzippers;

They will keep doing it, until you guys do something to stop them…

Via NRO:

The revelation that Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Marilynn Tavenner did not retain her e-mails means that more than 20 witness in the Obama administration to lose or delete e-mails without notifying Congress, according to the top House investigator.

“The Obama administration has lost or destroyed e-mails for more than 20 witnesses, and in each case, the loss wasn’t disclosed to the National Archives or Congress for months or years, in violation of federal law,” House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Darrell Issa (R., Calif.) said of Tavenner’s lost e-mails.

“It defies logic that so many senior Administration officials were found to have ignored federal recordkeeping requirements only after Congress asked to see their e-mails,” he continued. “Just this week, my staff followed up with HHS, who has failed to comply with a subpoena from ten months ago. Even at that point, the administration did not inform us that there was a problem with Ms. Tavenner’s e-mail history. Yet again, we discover that this administration will not be forthright with the American people unless cornered.”

Keep reading…

Thank You NRO and Nickarama.

ISSA Expands IRS Investigation: Subpoenas 28 Years of Lois Lerner's Emails.

thegatewaypundit;

Posted by Jim Hoft on Wednesday, June 25, 2014, 7:05 PM

Lois Lerner, the controversial director of the tax-exempt organizations division at the Internal Revenue Service, has a long sordid history of targeting conservatives.

Under the direction of Lois Lerner, the Federal Election Commission sued the Christian Coalition in the 1990s. She harassed the Christian Coalition for three election cycles. Eventually, she lost her case. At one point Lerner even asked a targeted conservative if Pat Robertson prayed over him. (Sound familiar?)

Al Salvi – Lois Lerner

In 1996, while at the FEC, Lois Lerner harassed Republican Senate candidate Al Salvi and made him this outrageous offer, “Promise me you will never run for office again, and we’ll drop this case.”

* * * * * * * * * * *

Today House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-CA) turned up the heat on Lois Lerner and subpoenaed 28 years of Lerner’s emails from 1986 until the present day.Political Ticker reported:

Expanding investigation by more than two decades, House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa, R-California, has sent a subpoena to the Federal Elections Commission for all communications involving former IRS administrator Lois Lerner from January 1, 1986 to the present day.

This new search is the broadest-yet for records in a year-long investigation by Issa and congressional Republicans, who are trying to assess why the agency targeted tea party and other political groups for extra scrutiny.

Issa issued the subpoena to Lee Goodman, head of the Federal Election Commission, on Tuesday for communications involving Lerner, who is seen as a central figure in the controversy because she ran the division that executed the targeting.

She resigned last year after the Treasury Department’s inspector general found those working under her used “inappropriate” criteria to scrutinize certain groups. Since then, Lerner has refused to testify before Congress, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. This has added to the Republican push to find any documents related to Lerner and her time in government.

In the on-going, determined GOP effort, Republicans are now reaching back to her career before the IRS.

Lerner joined the FEC in 1981, first working in the general counsel’s office. Issa subpoena focuses on her work after 1986, when Lerner became the head of the FEC’s enforcement division.

Thank You Mr. Hoft and Gateway Pundit. 

Boehner Won't Issue Arrest Warrant for Lois Lerner if Holder Fails To Prosecute

CNSNews;

Boehner Won't Issue an Arrest Warrant for Lois Lerner if Holder Fails To Prosecute Her

May 12, 2014 - 6:21 AM

---

By Susan Jones

(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker John Boehner indicated on Sunday that if Attorney General Eric Holder doesn't proceed with the contempt charge against former IRS official Lois Lerner, that will be the end of it.

"The contempt charge has gone to the attorney general. And it's up to the attorney general, Eric Holder, to prosecute this. And to assign someone to prosecute the case. Now will they do it? We don't know. But the ball is in his court," Boehner told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo.

Asked if he would consider issuing an arrest warrant for Lerner, Boehner said although the Constitution allows it, he won't do it.

"And so that's a -- I'm not quite sure that we want to get on that path," he said.

"So you're not looking to do that?" Bartiromo asked him.

"No. It's never been used," Boehner said. "I'm not the historian here. But it has never been used. And I'm not sure that it's an appropriate way to go about this. It's up to Eric Holder to do his job."

"Do you think he will?" Bartiromo asked.

"I don't know," Boehner said -- leaving it at that.

(Press reports noted that Congress did arrest someone cited for contempt, once, in 1935.)

The House of Representatives voted 231-187 last week to hold Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify about her role in the targeting of conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status before the 2012 election.

Lerner invoked her 5th Amendment rights after reading an opening statement in which she declared she'd done nothing wrong. Republicans said the fact that she gave a statement made her fair game for questioning.

The House also passed a resolution last week asking Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate the IRS tax-exempt office.

Holder himself was held in contempt of Congress in June 2012 for failing to produce documents subpoenaed by Congress in connection with the Fast and Furious gun-running investigation.

Thank You Ms Jones and CNS, 

and Thank you Speaker Boehner (R-RINO/GOPe) for telling Lois Lerner she now has Carte Blanche to tell House Oversight Committee Chairman Issa to "Go F**k Himself" because You just stabbed him, and the rest of America, in the back.

Dem. Congressman Wants Issa Held In Contempt of Congress

Oh for Chrissakes.

weaselzippers;

Dem. Congressman Wants Issa Held In Contempt of Congress

Via CNS News:

“The only reason we haven’t been able to get the truth from Lois Lerner is because of one person. And that is our chairman,” Rep. Steve Horsford (D-Nev.) told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Thursday, as the panel considered a contempt of Congress resolution against the former IRS official.

“So if my colleagues want to hold someone in contempt, maybe they should look to the person holding the gavel, since it’s his poor handling of this investigation that has resulted in why we can’t get the truth that the people deserve.”

Horsford said the contempt resolution against Lerner “does nothing to get the truth” for conservatives who believe they were inappropriately scrutinized by the IRS, and it does nothing to reassure the public, which deserves the Oversight Committee “to act in a fair and impartial manner.”

He noted the committee has interviewed 39 witnesses, reviewed more than 450,000 pages of documents, and the IRS has spent at least $14 million so far — “and there’s absolutely no evidence to support the chairman’s accusations that Miss Lerner orchestrated any IRS targeting.”

Horsford complained that some of his questions can’t be answered because of the way Issa ran the investigation.

Keep reading…

Thank You CNSNews and Zip.