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, officially titled Recommending that the House of Representatives find Lois G. Lerner, Former Director, Exempt Organizations, Internal Revenue Service, in contempt of Congress for refusal to comply with a subpoena duly issued by the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is a simple resolution that passed in the United States House of Representatives during the 113th United States Congress.〔 The resolution is in response to the testimony of Lois Lerner, a former Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employee, who is at the center of the ongoing 2013 IRS controversy over the agency's targeting of selected political groups applying for tax-exempt status. The resolution holds Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify at a congressional hearing. ==Background== (詳細はFederal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal probe ordered by United States Attorney General Eric Holder.〔(FBI opens criminal probe of tax agency, audit cites disarray )〕〔 〕 Initial reports described the selections as nearly exclusively of conservative groups with terms such as "Tea Party" in their names. Further investigation revealed that liberal-leaning groups and the Occupy movement had also triggered additional scrutiny,〔(IRS: Progressive groups flagged, but tea party bigger target ). CBS News (2013-06-27). Retrieved on 2013-07-19. 〕〔(Watchdog Found IRS Softer on 'Progressives' Than Tea Partiers - ABC News ). Abcnews.go.com (2013-06-27). Retrieved on 2013-07-19. 〕〔(IRS Investigator: Tea Party Groups Were Scrutinized More Than Progressive Organizations ). ''The Huffington Post'' (2013-06-27). Retrieved on 2013-07-19. 〕 but not at nearly the same rate as conservative groups.〔 〕〔 〕 The only denial of tax-exempt status by the IRS was to a progressive group.〔(Meet the group the IRS actually denied: Democrats! ), Salon.com, May 15, 2013〕 The use of target lists continued through May 2013.〔(IRS chief: Inappropriate screening was broad ), ''The Boston Globe'', June 24, 2013〕 In early May 2013, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released an audit report confirming that the IRS used inappropriate criteria to identify potential political cases, including organizations with the term "tea party" in their names. On May 10, 2013, in advance of the public release of the audit findings, Director of the IRS Exempt Organizations division Lois Lerner answered what was later revealed to be a planted question by stating that the IRS was "apologetic" for what she termed "absolutely inappropriate" actions. (Lerner's superior, then-Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, later testified to Congress that he had discussed with Lerner how she was to make the revelation and apology, using a planted question at a meeting of the American Bar Association rather than during an appearance two days earlier before the United States House Committee on Ways and Means in Congress.) Lerner asserted that the extra scrutiny had not been centrally planned, and had been done by lower-level "front line people" in the Cincinnati office. Media reports soon revealed that IRS officials in two other regional offices had also been involved in scrutinizing conservative groups and that selected applicants said that they had been told their applications were being overseen by a task force in Washington, D.C. The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report showed that Lerner herself had been informed of the affair at a meeting that she had attended on June 29, 2011.〔〔(AP Exclusive: IRS Knew Tea Party Targeted In 2011 ), npr.org, May 11, 2013〕 Following the Inspector General's report, the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform began an investigation into the IRS. Additionally, the House Committee on Ways and Means expanded its ongoing 2011 investigation into IRS political targeting to include the BOLO keyword targeting allegations. On May 22, 2013, in an opening statement to the House committee chaired by Representative Darrell Issa, Lerner stated: "I have not broken any laws. I have not violated any IRS rules or regulations. And I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee." Lerner then invoked her Fifth Amendment right against compelled testimony and refused to testify.〔(Lois Lerner invokes Fifth Amendment in House hearing on IRS targeting ), William Branigin and Ed O'Keefe, ''The Washington Post'', May 22, 2013〕 Issa later asserted that Lerner had waived her Fifth Amendment rights by giving partial testimony, and that he intended to call her back into the hearings. Congressman Trey Gowdy agreed with Issa. Gowdy stated: "She (Lerner ) just waived her Fifth Amendment right. You don't get to tell your side of the story and then not be subjected to cross examination — that's not the way it works. She waived her right to Fifth Amendment privilege by issuing an opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions." Law professor James Duane told ''New York'' magazine that Gowdy's assertion was "extremely imaginative" but "mistaken," because a person who is involuntarily summoned before a grand jury or a legislative body may selectively invoke the right to silence.〔(Expert: Lois Lerner Didn't Waive Her Right to Plead the Fifth ), Dan Amira, ''New York'' magazine, May 22, 2013〕 Law professor Alan Dershowitz took a different view, arguing: "You can't simply make statements about a subject and then plead the Fifth in response to questions about the very same subject," and asserting, "()nce you open the door to an area of inquiry, you have waived your Fifth Amendment right."〔(Dershowitz: IRS official Lerner 'can be held in contempt' of Congress - The Hill's Blog Briefing Room ). Thehill.com. Retrieved on 2013-07-19.〕 Lawmakers called for the resignation of Lois Lerner, who ran the IRS's section on tax-exempt organizations, as did Danny Werfel, after he was appointed Acting IRS Commissioner following Miller's resignation. When Lerner refused to resign, she was placed on administrative leave.〔 Lerner retired effective September 23, 2013. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Finding Lois Lerner in contempt of Congress」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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