Recommending that the House Find Lois G. Lerner in Contempt of Congress

Floor Speech

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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, I thank the chairman for yielding.

Look, here is what we know: Lois Lerner was at the center of this scandal right from the get-go.

We know that she waived her Fifth Amendment rights on two separate occasions. She came in front of the committee, as the chairman pointed out, and made multiple factual statements. When you do that, when you make all kinds of assertions, you then don't get a chance to say: oh, now, I invoke my Fifth Amendment privileges.

She waived it a second time when she agreed to be interviewed by the Department of Justice. Think about that. She is willing to sit down with the people who can put her in jail, but she is not willing to answer our questions.

When you waive it in one proceeding, you can't exercise it somewhere else, according to the case law here in the District of Columbia.

Here is what we also know: John Koskinen, the new IRS Commissioner, says it may take as many as 2 years for him to get us all Lois Lerner's emails.

Most importantly, we know Lois Lerner and the Internal Revenue Service systematically targeted American citizens, systematically targeted groups for exercising their First Amendment rights.

Think about that for a second, Mr. Chairman. Think about your First Amendment rights, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, freedom of association, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech--and speech, in particular--that is political. To speak out against your government, your most fundamental right, that is what they targeted.

So to get to the truth, we need to use every tool we can to compel Ms. Lerner, the lady at the center of the scandal, to come forward and answer our questions so the American people can understand why their First Amendment rights were targeted because we know--we know the criminal investigation at the Department of Justice is a sham. They have already leaked to The Wall Street Journal. No one is going to be prosecuted.

They already had the head of the Executive Branch, the President of the United States, go on national television and say no corruption, not even a smidgeon; and the person leading the investigation is a maxed-out contributor to the President's campaign.

We know that is not going to work

The only route to the truth is through the House of Representatives and compelling Ms. Lerner to answer our questions. That is why this resolution is so important. That is why I am supporting it. That is why I hope my colleagues on the other side will support it as well. It is about this most fundamental right, and Ms. Lerner is at the center of the storm. We want her simply--simply--to answer the questions.

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