IRS Scandal Takes Stunning Turn 

Late yesterday afternoon, just after one House committee voted to demand a criminal investigation of former IRS official Lois Lerner, another House committee dropped a bombshell. 

Rep. Darrell Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, released a letter, signed by five subcommittee chairmen, to the committee's ranking Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD). Issa essentially accused Cummings of making false statements and attempting to obstruct the investigation. 

During a February hearing, attorney Cleta Mitchell, representing True The Vote, testified that she suspected "staff of this committee … might have been involved in putting True the Vote on the radar screen" of various federal agencies, including the IRS. Rep. Cummings, interrupted, saying, "What she just said is absolutely incorrect and not true."

Yesterday, Issa released emails from the IRS that prove Lois Lerner was investigating True the Vote at the request of the House Oversight Committee's minority staff, which is directed by Rep. Cummings. Here's an excerpt of Rep. Issa's letter: 
 

"Although you have previously denied that your staff made inquiries to the IRS about conservative organization True the Vote that may have led to additional agency scrutiny, communication records between your staff and IRS officials -- which you did not disclose to Majority Members or staff -- indicates otherwise. As the Committee is scheduled to consider a resolution holding Ms. Lerner … in contempt of Congress, you have an obligation to fully explain your staff's undisclosed contacts with the IRS. …

"These documents, indicating the involvement of IRS officials at the center of the targeting scandal responding to your requests, raise serious questions about your actions and motivations for trying to bring this investigation to a premature end."

Other emails released yesterday show that Lerner was behind efforts to deny tax exempt status to Crossroads GPS, which was founded by Karl Rove, while another indicated she wanted a job at the liberal group Organizing for Action. 

Lerner's Fate? 

Hours ago, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted to hold Lois Lerner in contempt for refusing to testify about her role in the Tea Party targeting scandal. The contempt resolution will now be referred to the entire House of Representatives. 

Speaker John Boehner said yesterday, "If Lois Lerner continues to refuse to testify, then the House will hold her in contempt. And we will continue to shine the light on the administration's abusive actions and use every tool at our disposal to expose the truth and ensure the American people get the answers they deserve." 

If approved by the full House, the contempt resolution will then be referred to the U.S. Attorney for Washington, D.C. 

By the way, if Attorney General Eric Holder refuses to act on the referral of criminal charges from the House Ways and Means Committee, the House has the authority to arrest and detain Lerner. Liberals wanted Congress to use this authority against members of the Bush Administration in 2007. 

And if Lerner is eventually prosecuted and convicted based on the charges referenced in yesterday's House Ways and Means Committee letter, she could face up to 11 years in prison. 

Not surprisingly, Big Media doesn't think left-wing corruption at the IRS is anything you need to know about. None of the three major networks mentioned the House Ways and Means Committee vote. 

Radical Islam's "War On Little Girls" 

Yesterday we reported on the outrageous decision by Brandeis University to withdraw an honorary degree from Ayaan Hirsi Ali, a genuine leader in the fight against radical Islam's very real war on women. 

Today there is more news about the abhorrent treatment of women under Sharia law. The Washington Post reports that the Iraqi parliament is on the verge of legalizing marriages for girls as young nine years old. 

The proposed law also bans Muslim men from marrying non-Muslim women, bans women from leaving their homes, legalizes marital rape and allows girls younger than nine to be married as long as one parent approves. 

Reports say this law is being proposed now, just weeks before upcoming elections, in order to appease Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority, which claims that current limits on child marriages are "discriminatory." 

If that argument sounds familiar, it's because the political left in this country has claimed that laws limiting marriage to a man and a woman are discriminatory, as are laws limiting marriage to two individuals.