The woman who asked the planted question that publicly revealed the IRS targeting of conservative groups says Lois Lerner called her personally and asked for her help.
Tax attorney Celia Roady told
U.S. News and World Report that Lerner, who is head of the IRS's tax exempt division, called her personally on May 9.
"I received a call from Lois Lerner, who told me that she wanted to address an issue after her prepared remarks at the (American Bar Association) Tax Section's Exempt Organizations Committee Meeting, and asked if I would pose a question to her after her remarks," Roady told the publication. "I agreed to do so, and she then gave me the question that I asked at the meeting the next day. We had no discussion thereafter on the topic of the question, nor had we spoken about any of this before I received her call. She did not tell me, and I did not know, how she would answer the question."
Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller admitted that the question was a plant during Congressional testimony on Friday. The agency was aware of an inspector general's report that would be critical of its employees for targeting groups with "tea party," "patriot," and other conservative buzzwords in their names.
Lerner is scheduled to testify before the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday, but her attorney has said she will plead her Fifth Amendent right against self-incrimination and will not answer questions.
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