"Lois Lerner was Incompetent"—Attorney General

For John, BLUF:  High crimes and misdemeanors?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Well, that isn't EXACTLY how she said it, but that is the conclusion that would be drawn by the man on the Clapham Bus.  To quote from our Attorney General, Ms Lois Lerner:

Our review found that the management of the process by which tax-exempt applications were handled at the IRS was characterized by mismanagement and inefficiency in numerous circumstances.

The terms "mismanagement" and "inefficiency" are bureaucratize for "incompetent".

The quote from Ms Lynch came from a National Review article by Mr Joel Gehrke, "Lynch: Lois Lerner Protected by DOJ’s ‘Prosecutorial Discretion’"

This comment came during a Congressional Hearing that included Representative Darrell Issa questioning of the Attorney General.  Representative Issa read to Ms Lynch the applicable federal statute regarding congressional contempt citations (one was issued to Lois Lerner):

it “shall be [the U.S. attorney’s duty] to bring the matter before the grand jury”

The Attorney General stuck to her guns:

In the exercise of prosecutorial discretion, that decision was made.

Representative Issa went on:

“You have no respect for laws passed if you don’t like them,” Issa replied. “You think you have discretion when something says ‘shall,’ is what you’re testifying to, today.”

I have always taken a "shall statement" to be a mandate.  What the Administration is doing is wrong and it is also wrong for them to bind Ms Lynch to this breaking of the law.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff