Her statements were general and offered no substance for any specific line of questioning.
She can take the 5th on any or every specific question.
You are not as smart as I had hoped you would be
Lerner said she broke no IRS regulation. If they find that she broke even one - even such as taking office supplies for personal use, she can be questioned about it. She had no 5th Amendment protection for that since she had declared that she broke no regulation. She would also be open to perjury since she was under oath.
Obviously, the above is an absurd case, but if there is a significant regulation broken, she is in deep doo-doo ...