The Justice Department is refusing to charge former IRS manager Lois Lerner with being in contempt of Congress, saying that Lerner never waived her Fifth Amendment rights to self-incrimination. When Lerner testified the first time before Congress in 2013, she read a statement into the record proclaiming her innocence.  She then refused to answer questions from the committee, citing her Fifth Amendment privilege. Former federal prosecutor Rep. Trey Gowdy pounced on her claim immediately: "She just testified. She just waived her Fifth Amendment right to privilege," Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., a former federal prosecutor, said, "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 and opening statement. She ought to stand here and answer our questions." This was the basis upon which Congress cited Lerner for...(Read Full Post)