Republicans on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee want U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to hand over details of a Department of Justice interview with retired IRS official Lois Lerner, who oversaw the agency’s scrutiny of tea party groups, reports said Friday.
In a letter from committee chairman Darrell Issa and member Rep. Jim Jordan, the nation’s top prosecutor is being asked to provide “all documents and communications referring or relating to the scope, timing, and scheduling of the DOJ’s interview of Lois Lerner” as well as “all documents and communications between or among the DOJ, or other federal law enforcement agencies, and Lois Lerner or her counsel referring or relating to immunity for Ms. Lerner,”
the Daily Caller reported.
The letter comes after Lerner's attorney revealed earlier this month that his client had met with DOJ at
an undisclosed earlier date to discuss the case, as previously reported by WorldNetDaily. The letter also seeks information about whether Lerner invoked her Fifth Amendment rights during the session – as she has done twice previously before Issa's committee, including a March 5 hearing, according to the Daily Caller.
The newspaper
previously reported that Lerner’s lawyer, Bill Taylor, said the embattled ex-official wasn’t under oath when she sat down with the department for the private session.
"We haven’t heard anything back," Taylor had told the newspaper. "I don’t expect we will."
Issa and Jordan state in their letter they have been blocked by the Department of Justice in their investigation.
"For over eight months, the Committee has sought to carry out its oversight obligations in concert with the Department of Justice’s law-enforcement duties," the letter says. "At every stage, the Department has refused to fully cooperate with the Committee."
The Washington Times reported the new push is a signal Republicans could pursue contempt charges against Lerner for her refusal to talk to the committee.
Lerner's March 5 appearance before the House committee
was largely overshadowed by an angry confrontation between Issa and Maryland Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings as the hearing adjourned.
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