Notable people who plead the 5th

News

Several notable people have refused to answer questions from congress. See who they are and what happened to them.

IRS official Lois Lerner told lawmakers she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lerner is at the center of the scandal where IRS gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. See other prominent people who refused to answer questions on Capitol Hill.

Oliver North is sworn in on Capitol Hill on Dec. 18, 1986. North initially pleaded the Fifth during the Iran-Contra hearings, where officials secretly sold weapons to Iran, which was under an embargo, in the hopes the country would free hostages. North later testified in televised hearings under a deal that promised him limited immunity. That grant of immunity eventually would lead an appeals court to overturn his criminal convictions.

Tareq (left) and Michaele (right) Salahi, seen in this 2009 photo with Vice President Joe Biden crashed a White House state dinner, while being shadowed by a crew filming the "Real Housewives of D.C.". The couple declined to tell lawmakers how they made it past the Secret Service a year later. Mrs. Salahi also appeared on "Celebrity Rehab." The couple later divorced, after he accused her of an affair with rock guitarist Neal Schon of Journey.

Mark McGwire (left) pauses as he reads a prepared statement during a 2005 hearing on steroid use. McGwire did not answer when asked if he used steroids to hit a then-record 70 home runs in 1998. Years later, McGwire acknowledged use of steroids and human growth hormone.

Financier Charles H. Keating arrives to testify on Capitol Hill in Washington to testify before the House Banking Committee on Nov. 22, 1989. Keating declined to answer questions on the collapse of his Lincoln Savings and Loan, which wiped out many investors' life savings and cost taxpayers $3.4 billion. He departed in a Cadillac limousine, leaving behind a press release that blamed the bank's troubles on bad federal regulations and took a swipe at lawmakers' competence. Keating was convicted of fraud and served five years in prison.

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, seen leading Federal Court in 2006, invoked the Fifth Amendment at a 2004 hearing about his suspicious dealings and exploitation of Indian tribes with casinos. The scandal led to 20 convictions of lobbyists, lawmakers, congressional aides and others. Abramoff served more than three years in prison.

Former Enron CEO Kenneth Lay gives brief remarks before refusing to discuss the company's sudden collapse on Feb. 12, 2002. Lay was convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges in 2006 and died before his sentencing.

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IRS official Lois Lerner told lawmakers she did nothing wrong and then invoked her constitutional right to not answer lawmakers' questions during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. Lerner is at the center of the scandal where IRS gave extra scrutiny to conservative groups that applied for tax-exempt status. See other prominent people who refused to answer questions on Capitol Hill.

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