Via the Daily Caller, the exciting — I mean it! — conclusion to this weekend’s mystery about whether Lerner was thinking of testifying after all. Answer: Nope. She refused again, which I guess settles the question of whether she inadvertently waived her Fifth Amendment privilege last year by delivering an opening statement before Issa’s committee before suddenly clamming up. At the time, Issa thought that statement constituted a waiver; so did Alan Dershowitz. Maybe the committee decided it wasn’t worth their time litigating the issue. Riddle me this, though: Why don’t they just agree to grant her immunity for her testimony? Her lawyer’s asked for it before, and her testimony’s certainly more valuable than seeing her go to prison, especially given the ignominy she’s already suffered for her role in the IRS scandal. Maybe Issa and the GOP are worried that conservatives will be angry with them if they let Lerner walk. That’s a small price to pay, though, if she has incriminating info on others up the chain.

Instead, he chose to punish Cummings by ending the hearing in frustration before the guy had a chance to ask his question. Cue the excitement.

Update: Issa on why he cut Cummings’s mic: “He was actually slandering me at the moment that the mics did go off by claiming that this had not been a real investigation.”