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House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is pressing the White House to provide documents for his probe into potential Hatch Act violations. In a letter Tuesday to White House chief of staff Denis McDonough, Issa raised questions about whether the White House political office is improperly using taxpayer money to promote Democratic party and its candidates. Issa asked McDonough to "produce all documents and communications, including e-mails, related or referring to the Office of Political Strategy and Outreach or the reopening of the Office of Political Affairs, as soon as possible, but by no later than noon on April...

In an exclusive interview with the AFRO, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), discussed the events of a March 5 hearing held by House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, of which Cummings is the ranking member. During the hearing, former IRS employee Lois Lerner was questioned on the agency’s alleged targeting of conservative political groups. Chairman Darrell E. Issa (R-Calif.) posed questions for approximately 15 minutes, though Lerner had already invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to speak. When Cummings tried to take his turn, Issa adjourned the meeting, turned off Cummings’ microphone, and he and other Republicans filed out. AFRO:...

The Cummings/Issa feud is the showdown that keeps on giving. Democrats faced off with Republicans on the House floor, protesting GOP Rep. Darrell Issa's diss of Democrat Rep. Elijah Cummings last week. Cummings' colleagues stood on the House floor on Thursday, holding up tablets, iPhones and iPads with screen showing images of Issa shutting down Cummings during a committee hearing a week ago. But the show of solidarity was closed down, with the presiding officer, Rep. Mike Simpson (R-Idaho), deeming the display of electronic devices a violation of house rules.

Thursday, 13 Mar 2014 Democrats: Issa's Gaffe Will Block Lerner Contempt Charge Melissa Clyne Democrats are rushing to the aid of former IRS official Lois Lerner, saying GOP Rep. Darrell Issa fumbled the opportunity to force Lerner to answer questions about the IRS’ targeting of conservative groups, Politico reports. In a five-page memo from constitutional law expert Morton Rosenberg to Elijah Cummings, the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Rosenberg writes that Issa failed to provide Lerner — the former director of Exempt Organizations of the Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division of IRS — due...

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said he is incensed about allegations the CIA spied on the Senate Intelligence Committee, calling it “treason.” “I think Senator Feinstein is as outraged as anyone and I share her outrage. I think the violation of the Constitutional separation of powers should be an offense of the highest level—virtually treason,” Issa told Breitbart News on Tuesday. “Spying on the executive branch—spying on Congress or violating the separation of powers as to the Supreme Court or as to Congress is effectively treason. Treason—it’s written up in the Constitution,” Issa said of Feinstein’s revelations, adding, “I...

POLITICS: PennAve New Oversight report claims Lois Lerner misled Congress on IRS targeting BY SUSAN FERRECHIO | MARCH 11, 2014 AT 12:23 PM A GOP-led House panel Tuesday released an extensive report that attempts to show former top Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner lied to Congress about her involvement in the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax exempt status. Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said the 141-page report “offers detailed evidence about steps she took to crack down on organizations that exercised their Constitutional rights to free political speech.” The report comes as Issa weighs...

Lois Lerner, who oversaw the U.S. Internal Revenue Service’s scrutiny of tea party groups, was looking for someone from every branch of government to help resolve the issue that eventually cost her job. In emails being released today by a congressional committee, Lerner wondered why Congress wasn’t getting more criticism, hoped that the Federal Election Commission would "save the day" and wrote that political nonprofit groups "itching for a constitutional challenge" might file a court case that leads the IRS to accelerate the release of specific information about groups denied tax-exempt status. The emails are part of a 141-page report...

The spitfire showdown between Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings and House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa last week underscored two prevalent themes woven through U.S. sociological fabric. First, black men and white men remain polarized, perhaps more than ever. Secondly, black men still feel a need to scream to be heard, and not just because the white guy controlling the panel’s microphone silenced his feed. This United States ship lists in troubled waters. Our most recent disengagement reverts to a national election that raised Barack Hussein Obama into the White House in spite of his inability to gain major support from...

As the Obama administration’s coverup of former IRS official Lois Lerner’s wrongdoings moves into high gear, Democrats are doing everything they can to direct public attention away from the scandal and tamp down growing calls for the president’s impeachment. Lerner may soon be compelled to testify or be cited for contempt of Congress. After a hearing concluded Wednesday at which Lerner refused to answer questions, Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) indicated that Republicans are growing tired of the former IRS executive’s shenanigans. “At some point, I believe that she has to testify, or she should be held in...

INCREDIBLE! Use FR's Search box to look for keyword 'Cummings' Gack! The result is like watching an above-ground sewage line explode. I never had any inkling as to how much crap Issa has had thrown at him by Cummings these past 3+ years. And the Congressional Black Caucus is demanding that Issa be stripped of his gavel? What really should be happening here is that we should all be flooding our Cong. Reps with calls to censure Cummings or at least remove him from the Oversight Committee. Absolute power corrupts absolutely, and any racist Congressman representing a District (95.4% "urban")...

A chastened Rep. Darrell Issa says he has apologized to a fellow senior lawmaker for abruptly cutting off his microphone during a hearing Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Issa, R-Vista, said he made a personal apology on Thursday to the man he silenced, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md. “Mr. Cummings is a member of Congress who works very hard for his constituents,” he said.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa joined Megyn Kelly Thursday night to react to the uproar over him cutting off Elijah Cummings‘ mic during a contentious IRS hearing, saying that accusations he was “racist” are just “beneath response.” Issa suggested Cummings’ outburst was a “pre-staged event,” but Kelly asked, “Who cares? Let him have his couple of minutes to rip on you! You’re a big guy, you can take it!” He acknowledged that in hindsight, he might have let Cummings rant, but it’s completely unjustified for any member of Congress to try and get his chairmanship revoked over the incident...

House Republicans on Thursday slammed the former IRS official at the center of the agency’s targeting controversy for answering questions from the Justice Department after invoking the Fifth Amendment in a congressional hearing. Republicans on the Oversight Committee said that Lois Lerner’s decision to sit down with federal investigators made them wonder how seriously the Justice Department was taking the investigation into the IRS’s treatment of Tea Party groups. “Think about it: Actually, the people who can put her in jail — she’ll talk to them,” Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) told The Hill. “But she won’t talk to a bunch...

The House on Thursday rejected a Democratic resolution that condemned Oversight & Government Affairs Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) for shutting down a committee hearing without letting any Democrat speak. With dozens of Democrats standing by her, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) proposed the resolution Thursday morning, a day after Issa held a combative hearing with a former IRS official involved in the IRS targeting scandal.

VIDEO: 4 minutes - Rep. Marcia Fudge's oral presentation of the privileged resolution on House floor. The chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus is calling House Oversight Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) to be stripped of his gavel for his behavior at a contentious IRS hearing on Wednesday. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) on Thursday that Issa’s conduct in the hearing — which included cutting off the microphone of Rep. Elijah Cummings (Md.), the ranking Democrat — amounted to “an affront to the expectations of the American people.” Fudge also said Issa should apologize on the House...

California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa told Fox News Wednesday his House committee could move as early as next week to consider holding former IRS official Lois Lerner in contempt. Lerner refused earlier in the day to testify on her role in the agency’s targeting of Tea Party and other conservative groups. Her decision to plead the Fifth Amendment marked the second time in 10 months that she asserted her constitutional right not to testify before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Affairs. House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said of her refusal, “at some point Lerner must testify” or be...

WND asked Issa if he is still confident he will get to the bottom of the matter. “It may well be that we have gotten to the bottom of it,” he said. “At this point, roads lead to Miss Lerner, the witness who took the Fifth. She becomes one of the key characters at this point. Had she been willing to explain those emails, which were provided through separate subpoenas, then we could have, perhaps, brought this to a close. Without that, it may dead-end with Miss Lerner.”

FULL TITLEIRS villain Lois Lerner risks ARREST after pleading Fifth for a second time at IRS tea-party targeting hearing The one-time head of the U.S. tax authority's branch overseeing nonprofits won't testify about a years-long scheme to target conservative groups Congress has the power to hold her in contempt, try her and imprison her in the Capitol jail That power hasn't been used in more than 75 years but used to be common in bribery and other cases After the Republican chair of the House Oversight Committee quickly adjourned Wednesday's hearing, his Democratic counterpart went 'ballistic' Former IRS official Lois...

Via the Daily Caller, the exciting — I mean it! — conclusion to this weekend’s mystery about whether Lerner was thinking of testifying after all. Answer: Nope. She refused again, which I guess settles the question of whether she inadvertently waived her Fifth Amendment privilege last year by delivering an opening statement before Issa’s committee before suddenly clamming up. At the time, Issa thought that statement constituted a waiver; so did Alan Dershowitz. Maybe the committee decided it wasn’t worth their time litigating the issue. Riddle me this, though: Why don’t they just agree to grant her immunity for her...