Lerner Pleads The Fifth 

Lois Lerner, the IRS official directly in charge of the office that targeted Tea Party, conservative and Christian groups, refused to testify today before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Lerner made a brief opening statement in which she denied any wrongdoing and then told the committee, "I will not answer any questions or testify about the subject matter of this committee's meeting." 

Chairman Darrel Issa (R-CA) pressed Lerner twice to reconsider her decision. But she refused saying, "I will not answer any questions or testify today." Lerner's refusal to testify led the Tea Party Patriots to tweet, "Lerner Takes The Fifth After Trampling The First." 

This afternoon, Chairman Issa announced that he would subpoena Lerner again, arguing that she had effectively waived her Fifth Amendment rights by making an opening statement. 

The lack of cooperation from top IRS officials is now trying the patience of President Obama's allies on Capitol Hill. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) warned that the stonewalling "will lead to a special prosecutor." Lynch added, "There will be hell to pay if that's the route that we choose to go down." 

Our friends at The Weekly Standard are pointing out that Lois Lerner has a history of aggressively targeting conservative Christian organizations. Prior to joining the IRS, Lerner led the Enforcement Office at the Federal Election Commission (FEC). It was under Lerner's leadership that the FEC waged a battle against the Christian Coalition that lasted for years. Ultimately, the Christian Coalition was cleared. But the effort drained valuable resources and manpower. 

As The Weekly Standard article recounts, the scope of the FEC investigation went well beyond the legal issues at stake. During one deposition, an attorney with the FEC grilled Lt. Col. Oliver North as to whether or not Pat Robertson was praying for him.

Sound familiar? Evidently the IRS, under Lerner's leadership, asked at least one pro-life group about the content of its members' prayers! 

While members of Congress are frustrated by the inability to get answers from top IRS officials in Washington, a local Fox affiliate in Cincinnati, Ohio, has obtained the employee directory of the office where the so-called "rogue agents" operated. Based on their research, Cindy Thomas, the program manager of the Tax Exempt Division, is likely a key witness at the center of this scandal. 

Stalling On Benghazi Suspects 

"I want people around the world to hear me: To all those who would do us harm, no act of terror will go unpunished." 

That was President Obama speaking on September 12, 2012, the day after the attack on our consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Unfortunately, in the eight months since that attack, many questions remain unanswered and no one has been brought to justice. Why? 

The Associated Press broke a disturbing report last night indicating that the FBI has identified five suspects and "has enough evidence to justify seizing them by military force as suspected terrorists." But the Obama White House is stalling, concerned that there isn't enough evidence to try them -- yes, you read that right -- in civilian court. 

Here we go again. Rather than treating the attack on our consulate like an act of terrorism, the Obama Administration is treating it as a mere crime instead. Our ambassador and three other Americans were killed, and the thugs who did it are still walking around in broad daylight because this president wants to give foreign terrorists all the rights afforded to U.S. citizens. 

Attack On Fox Grows 

Today we know more about the administration's assault on the free press. Just like the unprecedented seizure of records from the Associated Press, the Justice Department cast an extraordinarily vast net in its investigation of Fox News reporter James Rosen.

The New Yorker's Ryan Lizza reports that the Justice Department seized records from more than 30 phone lines. At least five of the lines were connected to Fox News. Some were connected to the White House. But among lines compromised by the Justice Department was the home phone number of James Rosen's parents, who live on Staten Island! 

Not surprisingly, a new Fox poll finds that 68% of voters believe the government is out-of-control. Sixty percent say the Justice Department "went too far" in investigating the Associate Press. 

Did Boston Bombers Act Alone? 

We have been told repeatedly that the Tsarnaev brothers acted alone when they set off bombs during the Boston Marathon last month. But that narrative appears to be falling apart. 

Two weeks after the bombing, three friends of the Tsarnaev brothers were arrested for disposing of evidence and lying to investigators. Now comes the news that a FBI agent shot and killed Ibragim Todashev in Orlando, Florida, just after midnight. Todashev, a Chechen immigrant, lived in Boston and knew Tamerlan Tsarnaev. He also had ties to Chechen rebels. 

Todashev was initially cooperating with the FBI, but he attacked the agent after confessing to playing some role in the murders of three men in Boston, two of whom were Jewish. According to press reports, the men were "slaughtered" and their throats had been slit. The murders took place on September 11, 2011 -- the ten-year anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. 

Meanwhile, in London today a British soldier was brutally attacked and beheaded by jihadists. Rather than fleeing the scene of the crime, the men remained to celebrate the attack and videotaped each other saying, "We swear by almighty Allah we will never stop fighting you." This video will likely become a big hit on Islamist websites, used to recruit more young fanatics to the cause of jihad. 

When will the West wake up?