Former IRS Nonprofits Chief Again Takes 5th at House Hearing

Lois Lerner, the former Internal Revenue Service official at the center of the scandal over alleged targeting of conservative organizations, declined for a second time to answer congressional questions Wednesday, invoking her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, The Washington Post reports.

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee session was a continuation of a hearing begun last May, when Ms. Lerner, then head of the tax agency’s nonprofits unit, also refused to take questions. She retired from the IRS in September, four months after being placed on paid leave following her admission that the her office flagged Tea Party groups’ applications for nonprofit status for extra scrutiny.

Wednesday’s hearing ended tempestuously when committee Chairman Darrell Issa, a California Republican, abruptly adjourned the session after Ms. Lerner declined to answer his questions. Mr. Issa cut off ranking Democrat Elijah Cummings’s microphone when the Maryland lawmaker attempted to speak.

House Speaker John Boehner said Ms. Lerner should be held in contempt of Congress if she continues to refuse to testify, Bloomberg writes. Mr. Issa said he will decide by next week whether his committee will seek a contempt claim.