IRS's Lois Lerner Waived Fifth Amendment Rights, Says House Panel

Note: If you mean to keep your mouth shut, just keep your mouth shut

Republicans on a House committee rejected strenuous Democratic objections in voting Friday that Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner waived her constitutional right against self-incrimination at a prior hearing.

The resolution was the first step in an effort by Rep. Darrell Issa of California, the GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to force Lerner to return to answer questions about targeting of conservative groups by the unit she headed.

It passed on a 22-17 vote, with every Republican in favor and every Democrat opposed, following an unusually vitriolic hearing.

Democrats accused Issa of a partisan witch hunt that threatened Lerner's 5th Amendment rights, while Republicans seethed at how Lerner had first declared her innocence before refusing to answer questions on constitutional grounds at the earlier hearing.