U.S. Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO-3) today issued the following statement after Internal Revenue Service Exempt Organizations Division Director Lois Lerner pleaded the Fifth Amendment before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, raising serious new questions about Lerner’s role in stonewalling Luetkemeyer’s three-year, constituent-prompted inquiry into the Humane Society of the United States’ (HSUS) tax-exempt status:

“Lois Lerner’s decision today to invoke the Fifth Amendment before a congressional committee raises even more serious questions about the IRS’ three-year failure to heed my repeated calls to investigate whether HSUS’ extensive lobbying and political activity should make it ineligible for tax-exempt status.  We know that IRS officials targeted conservative organizations, but it appears we may never hear from Ms. Lerner about whether she looked the other way when my constituents and I raised concerns about HSUS, a left-leaning group with which she has direct ties.  I am hopeful that Attorney General Eric Holder, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and IRS Inspector General  J. Russell George will follow through where Ms. Lerner did not and respond to the concerns of my constituents about HSUS’ lobbying and political activity. An investigation would help restore the trust in our government and anything less would be a betrayal of government’s responsibility to the American people. It is my sincerest hope that Attorney General Holder, Secretary Lew and Inspector General George will do their duty in moving an investigation forward in a timely manner and providing answers that the American people both deserve and demand.”