--- title: IRS Scandal: Republicans Hold Lois Lerner in Contempt of Congress description: Lois Lerner has plead the Fifth Amendment to accusations her IRS division targeted conservative groups for tax special scrutiny canonical: https://time.com/57495/republicans-vote-to-hold-former-irs-official-in-contempt/ author: Denver Nicks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-10T17:10:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T07:14:40.665Z article:section: Politics og:title: IRS Scandal: Republicans Hold Lois Lerner in Contempt of Congress og:description: Lois Lerner has plead the Fifth Amendment to accusations her IRS division targeted conservative groups for tax special scrutiny og:url: https://time.com/57495/republicans-vote-to-hold-former-irs-official-in-contempt/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e2bd47ce9d49b1a/69868a24810bbb2c5bc90ff2/lois-lerner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4103 og:image:height: 2308 og:image:alt: Lois LerneraInternal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt stat og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: IRS Scandal: Republicans Hold Lois Lerner in Contempt of Congress twitter:description: Lois Lerner has plead the Fifth Amendment to accusations her IRS division targeted conservative groups for tax special scrutiny twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e2bd47ce9d49b1a/69868a24810bbb2c5bc90ff2/lois-lerner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Republicans Vote to Hold Former IRS Official in Contempt > Sponsored content. 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Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Apr 10, 2014 5:10 PM UTC  Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2013. Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on May 22, 2013. J. Scott Applewhite—AP  by [Denver Nicks](https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/)  ## Denver Nicks Apr 10, 2014 5:10 PM UTC House Republicans voted Thursday to hold in contempt of Congress the former IRS official at the center of a [scandal](http://time.com/56760/irs-lois-lerner-crossroads/) over the tax agency’s alleged targeting of conservative groups. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee voted along party lines to approve a resolution recommending Lois Lerner be held in contempt of Congress. Lerner, who oversaw the IRS division in charge of vetting applications for groups seeking tax-exempt status, came under fire when she admitted the agency had given scrutiny to requests from conservative political groups. The ensuing scandal briefly buffeted President Barack Obama in the early days of his second term, but ultimately fizzled without evidence of a connection to the White House and with revelations that liberal groups were also given scrutiny. Republicans have sought to keep the issue alive, though, and committee chairman Darrell Issa (R—Calif.) has sought to compel Lerner to testify about the matter, rejecting her claim to Fifth Amendment protections. “We need Ms. Lerner’s testimony to complete our oversight work to bring the truth to the American people,” Issa said Thursday. “Why did she do certain things and who else was involved? … The American taxpayers certainly don’t get to plead the Fifth and escape all accountability when the IRS audits them.” Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), the committee’s ranking Democrat, again decried Republicans for what he called a political witch hunt. “Today this committee is trying to do something even Joe McCarthy did not do in the 1950s, something almost unprecedented,” Cummings said before the vote. The outcome of Thursday’s vote was all but predetermined, as Issa’s GOP-controlled committee has been divided along the issue along stark partisan lines. The full House will have to vote on the contempt citation, but even if that passes it’s unclear if Attorney General Eric Holder would take any action. The tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee sent a letter Wednesday recouting Lerner’s alleged crimes and insisting the Justice Department has “a responsibility to act, and Lois Lerner must be held accountable.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/57495/republicans-vote-to-hold-former-irs-official-in-contempt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/57495/republicans-vote-to-hold-former-irs-official-in-contempt/"},"headline":"Republicans Vote to Hold Former IRS Official in Contempt","datePublished":"2014-04-10T17:10:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:14:40.665Z","description":"Lois Lerner has plead the Fifth Amendment to accusations her IRS division targeted conservative groups for tax special scrutiny","url":"https://time.com/57495/republicans-vote-to-hold-former-irs-official-in-contempt/","keywords":["Congress","IRS","justice","Internal Revenue Service"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e2bd47ce9d49b1a/69868a24810bbb2c5bc90ff2/lois-lerner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Denver Nicks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/denver-nicks/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4e2bd47ce9d49b1a/69868a24810bbb2c5bc90ff2/lois-lerner.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Lois LerneraInternal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt stat","caption":"Internal Revenue Service official Lois Lerner refuses to answer questions as the House Oversight Committee holds a hearing to investigate the extra scrutiny the IRS gave Tea Party and other conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status, on Capit","creditText":"J. 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