TREY GOWDY SPRINGS A TRAP: Did former IRS commissioner Doug Shulman commit perjury today?

During his contentious testimony before the House Oversight Committee, former IRS commissioner Doug Shulman hemmed and hawed repeatedly when posed with the question: did the IRS itself investigate allegations of harassment and targeting of conservatives?

After nearly seven minutes, an exasperated Gowdy finally got to the bottom of it with this exchange:

Gowdy: Did you lift a finger to investigate the facts?

Shulman: Uh, I felt quite comfortable the Inspector General would run down the facts and...

And once he had it it would be recorded out.

Gowdy: Let the record reflect that's a 'no'.

So the record shows that Shulman said "no", he instigated no internal investigation of these criminal actions.

And I believe Trey Gowdy just trapped Mr. Shulman.

Because... it was revealed today that, indeed, the IRS did conduct an internal investigation and its results were withheld until after the election.

Tempers flared in a House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing Wednesday, with members on both sides of the aisle castigating the Internal Revenue Service for targeting conservative groups with special scrutiny, and then hiding the practice from Congress.

Rep. Darrel Issa, the committee's chairman, said that the committee learned just yesterday that the IRS completed its own investigation a year before a Treasury Department Inspector General report was completed.

But despite the IRS recognizing in May 2012 that its employees were treating right-wing groups differently from other organizations, Issa said, IRS personnel withheld those conclusions from legislators... 'Just yesterday the committee interviewed Holly Paz, the director of exempt organizations, rulings and agreements, division of the IRS,' Issa said. 'While a tremendous amount of attention is centered about the Inspector General's report, or investigation, the committee has learned from Ms. Paz that she in fact participated in an IRS internal investigation that concluded in May of 2012 - May 3 of 2012 - and found essentially the same thing that Mr. George found more than a year later.'

When the history books are written, Richard Nixon will look like a guy who stole a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies compared to Barack Obama.