A Department of Justice letter came as no particular surprise to Republican critics of collusion between the IRS and the Department of Justice, reports Politico. The DOJ’s letter explained to Speaker John Boehner that the department will not pursue criminal contempt charges against former IRS lead agent Lois Lerner.
Lerner was recommended for charges of contempt by a House resolution last year after she refused to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee about her role in the ongoing scandal concerning political targeting by the IRS of Tea Party groups.
The DOJ reported in the letter that Lerner still maintained her Fifth Amendment right to refuse self-incrimination despite that she had already given an opening statement to the House committee months previous to her refusal.
Boehner replied that the failure to prosecute Lerner was simply more of the same in which “the Obama administration has tried to sweep IRS targeting of taxpayers for their political beliefs under the rug.”
