Lois Lerner, the Internal Revenue Service official who this week asserted her right not to answer questions about the controversy over extra scrutiny for conservative groups, took administrative leave on Thursday, a congressional source close to the matter said.

Lerner, head of the IRS tax-exempt division, has become a lightning rod in the fracas over extra scrutiny the agency gave to Tea Party and other conservative groups seeking tax-exempt status.

She apologized for the matter on May 10 at an obscure tax meeting, but the revelation triggered lawmaker outrage, and congressional and Department of Justice investigations. On Wednesday, Lerner asserted her right under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution not to testify, triggering a further storm of criticism, mostly from Republican lawmakers.

On Thursday, Lerner took administrative leave, a congressional source close to the matter said.

Earlier on Thursday, Republican U.S. Representative Darrell Issa said he would call Lerner back to testify before his committee after she declared she “did nothing wrong,” before his committee, before invoking her Fifth Amendment right at a Wednesday hearing.

“She clearly chose to make her statements and then not open herself up to even any questioning as to the statement she made,” said Issa, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

(Reuters)