Posted on 03/07/2014 5:20:52 PM PST by John Semmens
There is little doubt that former IRS official Lois Lerner possesses key information on illegal activities conducted by the Agency. Emails from her account verify that. Yet, on two occasions, Lerner has invoked the Fifth Amendment's guarantee against self-incrimination and refused to testify before Congress.
Lerner’s attorney Bill Taylor argues that “it is her only chance if she hopes to come out of this alive. This point was made clear to me when we talked to representatives at the Department of Justice. The Administration has many potent options for taking extreme action against my client. Convincing the DOJ that she is unshakably loyal is the only safe course she has. Should there be a smidgen of doubt about this she's a goner.”
Taylor portrayed a looming contempt of Congress citation as “an inconsequential threat. Even if they levy this against her it will be up to the DOJ to pursue the case. We have assurances from AG Holder that she has nothing to fear along these lines. No one with any sense can blame Ms. Lerner for preferring to risk the animosity of an impotent Congress to that of a deadly earnest President Obama.”
In related news, Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz's call for the IRS to be abolished was labeled “totally irresponsible” by Commissioner John Koskinen. “Cruz's proposal for a simple flat tax would eviscerate the Agency's flexibility. All income would be treated alike. We'd have no latitude to guide the economy by granting exemptions for favored activities or groups. The Agency's utility as a tool of the Administration for rewarding those who are contributing to the success of its policies would be severely curtailed.”
if you missed any of this week's other semi-news/semi-satire posts you can find them at...
http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Opinion/151661-2014-03-07-semi-news-a-satire-of-recent-news-march-9-2014.htm
Do you have your finger on the pulse of this administration or what?
Another goody, John. Thanks again for the ping.
No immunity without the truth...see who she’s willing to give up. Once we can ascertain the who, we can discuss immunity. I would prefer that she were stripped of her federal pension and immunity from criminal prosecution.
That lateral Fed transfer to NASA launch facility maintenance inspector didn’t work out all that well for her.
A sentence SO satirical that it is, in fact, 100% accurate.
Excellent work, Mr. Semmens (as per usual).
We should have an ongoing pool for each of his articles in which we try to predict how many posts will take Mr. Semmens seriously before someone points out that he writes satire.
Of all his ‘articles’ I’ve read on FR I think the most I’ve seen is right around 20 posts before someone throws up the satire flag.
Of course, I have to admit, the first time I read one of his pieces he ‘got’ me, as well.
She's a minor figure in a scandal of immense importance. She's also a US citizen and has every right to seek shelter in the protections offered by Amendment V.
The scandal here is a feckless and incompetent GOP leadership in the House of Representatives, who have failed to conduct a proper investigation of this matter, and who, to cover up their failure, keep pointing at Lois Lerner (whose testimony they could have procured via immunity in five seconds, two years ago), saying, in effect, "Look! A squirrel!"
Look back to 1973. Richard Nixon had been re-elected with 520 electoral votes and 60.7% of the popular vote. If any opposition party in Congress should have feared investigating a President for high crimes and misdemeanors, it was the Democrats in 1973.
But Mike Mansfield and Carl Albert knew what they were doing. They appointed special investigative committees, and charged each with exercising their constitutional responsibilities. They chose the public face of those committees with care (Sam Ervin and Peter Rodino). They hired staff who were passionate about bringing Nixon down, and gave them free reign. They chose their witnesses with care, and brought them before the public in a specific sequence designed to heighten the drama as they built their case.
All this to get even with the largest electoral vote winner IN HISTORY, until Ronald Reagan.
But, of course, they knew what they were doing.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.