House Votes to Hold Ex-IRS Official Lerner in Contempt

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold Lois Lerner, the former head of the Internal Revenue Service’s nonprofits office, in contempt of Congress for refusing to answer questions about her role in scrutinizing conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status, The Washington Post and Bloomberg report.

Six Democrats joined all voting Republicans to approve the contempt charge by a 231-187 tally. The House also passed, by a 250-168 vote, a resolution calling on Attorney General Eric Holder to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate IRS scrutiny of Tea Party and other right-learning organizations.

The vote came 362 days after Ms. Lerner, who retired from the IRS in September, disclosed that the agency had closely reviewed nonprofit applications by some political groups. She has since twice taken the Fifth Amendment at House hearings on the matter. The contempt case will be turned over to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Ms. Lerner could face up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine if convicted.