.
3/2/11, "If he approaches the job with the attitude that any group smaller than all Americans is "my people," he is the wrong man for the position."...James Taranto, WSJ, "Eric Holder's people"
- Above, 11/4/08, entrance to voting location in Philadelphia
The Politico article doesn't discuss the months long investigation, testimony, stonewalling and substantiation, none of which involved the present congress. Holder does not see 2008 Black Panther voter intimidation case (including brandishing of a deadly weapon) on its own, but compares it to what happened to 'his people' in the past, such as integrating the University of Alabama. As such, says it is without significant merit. Proving the commission's conclusion.
3/1/11, "Eric Holder: Black Panther case focus 'demeans my people,'" Politico, Josh Gerstein
"Attorney General Eric Holder finally got fed up Tuesday with claims that the Justice Department went easy in a voting rights case against members of the New Black Panther Party because they are African American.
Holder's frustration over the criticism became evident during a House Appropriations subcommittee hearing as Rep. John Culberson (R-Texas) accused the Justice Department of failing to cooperate with a Civil Rights Commission investigation into the handling of the 2008 incident in which Black Panthers in intimidating outfits
- and wielding a club stood outside a polling place in Philadelphia.
The Attorney General seemed to take personal offense at a comment Culberson read in which former Democratic activist Bartle Bull called the incident
- the most serious act of voter intimidation he had witnessed in his career.
"Think about that," Holder said. "When you compare what people endured in the South in the 60s to try to get the right to vote for African Americans, and to compare what people were subjected to there to what happened in Philadelphia—
- which was inappropriate, certainly that…
to describe it in those terms I think does a great disservice to people who put their lives on the line,
- who risked all,
- for my people," said Holder, who is black.
Holder noted that his late sister-in-law, Vivian Malone Jones, helped integrate the University of Alabama.
"To compare that kind of courage, that kind of action, and to say that the Black Panther incident wrong though it might be, somehow is greater in magnitude or is of greater concern to us, historically, I think
- just flies in the face of history and the facts.," Holder said with evident exasperation."...
- (The article doesn't say the 2008 case was said to be of greater historical significance than any other, nor do numerous past reports I've seen on the case. Holder or his superior continues to be unable to see it for what it plainly is). ed.
(continuing, Politico): "In a series of questions and comments earlier in the hearing, Culberson insisted that race had infected the decision-making process. "There’s clearly evidence, overwhelming evidence, that your Department of Justice refuses to protect the rights of anybody other than African Americans to vote," the Texas Republican said. "There's a pattern of a double standard here."
- “I would disagree very vehemently with the notion that there’s overwhelming evidence that that is in fact true,” Holder replied. “This Department of Justice does not enforce the law in a race-conscious way.”
Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Democrat from Philadelphia, said the Black Panthers "should not have been there." But he said the GOP was making too much out of a fleeting incident involving a couple of people."...
- (It is not the GOP doing it. The report was not done by the GOP, but was given to them in finished form. At least 50% of the testimony was made by a lifelong Democrat, who is a former ACLU attorney, received civil rights awards, and was appointed by Bill Clinton). Citation below. ed.
(continuing, Politico): ""The most unethical thing a person can do is make allegations
- based on absolutely nothing," Fattah said.
"The only issue of race is singling out this particular decision...That this rises to national significance
- is bogus on its face.""
"UPDATE: This post has been updated with minor changes to the syntax of some quotes."
--------------------------------------------
- Of Chris Coates' testimony, as a former ACLU attorney and Bill Clinton appointee:
(Politico, 9/24/10): "Commission Chairman Gerald Reynolds said Coates
- “appears here at great personal risk to himself. I’d like to thank Mr. Coates for his courage in appearing today.”"...
From Washington Post, 9/24/10, Coates has been given whistleblower protection:
- "Coates, former head of the voting section that brought the case, testified
- in defiance of his supervisor's instructions and
-----------------------------------------
- Above election day, 11/4/08
Reference: Following 4 articles relating to testimony of Christopher Coates (democrat appointee) in Sept. 2010. 2 headlines refer to him as an "Ex, or Former Justice official", others frame him a person in the present, describing him as a "Justice official" or "Prosecutor"
- 9/24/10, Washington Post, "Bias led to 'gutting' of New Black Panther case, Justice official says" by Markon and Thompson
- 9/24/10, AP, "Ex-DOJ official blasts voting rights enforcement," by J. Holland
- 9/24/10, LA Times, "Former Justice official says 'race neutral' voting enforcement discouraged," by J. Steffen, Tribune Washington Bureau
- 9/24/10, Politico, "Prosecutor alleges Department of Justice bias," by Josh Gerstein
The report delivered to congress was the result of many months of investigations, subpoenas, and stonewalling. Jennifer Rubin of the Washington Post published portions of the lengthy report on 1/27/11. Among many details, an Obama DOJ appointee, Julie Fernandes, said they would enforce voting regulations on a selective basis. Later, Ms. Fernandes was prohibited from answering questions:
"...Evidence of malfeasance by an Obama political appointee, Julie Fernandes:
He also explains, "The Department declined to allow Ms. Fernandes to answer questions about these allegations herself when it ultimately refused to honor the Commission's subpoena for her appearance. For her part, when asked directly by reporters,Mr. [Chris] Coates [who headed the NBPP trial team] came forward and testified to the same statements having been made by Ms. Fernandes--statements made pursuant to a directive she conveyed to members of the Voting Section that the race of violators and victims is an appropriate consideration in the Division's enforcement decisions.
The uncontroverted testimony of Messrs. Coates and [former DOJ attorney J. Christian] Adams also identify Ms. Fernandes as having explicitly told a brown-bag lunch gathering of the entire Voting Section that the administration would not enforce the list maintenance provisions of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act ("NVRA").
- Ms. Fernandes declined to comment."
Woven throughout these documents is a blistering rebuttal of the statements of Democratic commissioners who have done their best to ignore or misconstrue evidence, come up with belated and fanciful theories that not even the DOJ raised,
- and to vilify the career attorneys who came forward to provide sworn testimony....
Todd Gaziano, a political independent, provides an overview:
After a year of DOJ's intransigence and baseless refusals to comply with our subpoenas, two Department attorneys bravely defied orders to testify before the Commission: the former Civil Rights Division Voting Section chief, Christopher Coates, and a lead trial attorney in the NBPP case, J. Christian Adams. Their testimony and the sworn affidavits from former DOJ staff portray a pervasive culture of hostility to race-neutral enforcement of civil rights laws in the Civil Rights Division. The detailed allegations include: a former section chief who doctored a memo to try to prevent a meritorious case from being filed against black defendants, racially offensive statements by several supervisors and staff, and repeated instances of harassment and intimidation directed against anyone willing to work on lawsuits against minority defendants.
On the merits of the case:
On pages 11-16 Gaziano details DOJ's stonewalling efforts, including the assertion of bogus claims of privilege. He does so, he explains,Although hampered by the Department's refusal to allow the Commission to interview DOJ trial attorneys or produce the exhibits, witness statements, and other evidence in the possession of DOJ, the Commission held its first hearing on April 23, 2010 relating to the facts on Election Day 2008 in Philadelphia and whether there was a sufficient basis to file the original charges. Three eye-witnesses, including the prominent civil rights attorney Bartle Bull, provided powerful and convincing testimony that the former defendants had engaged in intimidating conduct, and that voters had turned away from the polling place rather than walk within a billyclub swing of the entrance. Congressman Frank Wolf testified regarding his concerns about the case and his frustration with the lack of DOJ cooperation.
- "(1) so that congressional or other investigators may consider its implications going forward, and
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9/24/10, "Watchdog group: Black Panther case scuttled by Democrat election lawyer," Examiner.com, Jim Kouri
"Democratic election lawyer Sam Hirsch was involved in the DOJ decision to dismiss its voting rights case against the New Black Panther Party for Self Defense, according to FOIA documents."...
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