Results from year-long investigation. Extensive testimony was given by Bill Clinton appointee Christopher Coates who had previously worked at the ACLU. He wasn't a Republican appointee, nor did colleagues view him as partisan.
- This is not mentioned in the 10/29 Washington Post report but is described in their 9/24, article, "Bias led to 'gutting' of New Black Panther case, Justice official says" by Markon and Thompson:
- "But Coates has a pedigree different from that of many conservatives. He was hired at Justice
- during the Clinton administration in 1996 and
- had worked for the American Civil Liberties Union."...
- Washington Post, 10/22 re the view that the DOJ sees its role more in protecting historical minorities and does not wish to pursue cases of voting violations against whites by minorities, "Three other Justice Department lawyers, in recent interviews, gave the same description of the department's culture, which department officials strongly deny.
"A federal commission had to postpone a vote on a report that criticizes the Justice Department's handling of a voter-intimidation lawsuit Friday after
- a Democratic panelist walked out of the meeting in protest.
- The move, the report says, indicates that
- "at war with its core mission of guaranteeing equal protection (under) the laws for all Americans.''
The Justice Department has strongly denied the allegations in the report, which follows the commission's year-long investigation into the Obama administration's handling of the 2008 incident. The Bush administration had filed the lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party members, but the Justice Department under the Obama administration dismissed most of the case.
- The commission, which is controlled by a bloc of conservative and liberterian members, was
scheduled to vote on the report Friday morning. But it could not reach a quorum because commissioner
- Michael Yaki, a Democratic appointee and a former senior adviser to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, refused to participate.
The commission needs five members present to meet quorum.
"This has been a procedural and partisan farce from the beginning,'' Yaki said in an impromptu news conference. "It's not my responsibility to make a quorum for this kangaroo court ... they want to score political points against the Obama Justice Department.''
- Members of the commission's majority, who drafted the report, denied they were motivated by politics and accused Justice Department officials of blocking their investigation,
failing to turn over key documents and instructing witnesses not to testify.
"The degree of stonewalling that the Justice Department has engaged in is unprecedented in the 53-year history of the commission,'' said commissioner Todd F. Gaziano, a senior fellow in legal studies at the conservative Heritage Foundation.
- He said the commission would vote on the 131-page report at its meeting next week.
The accusations illustrate the partisan nature of the debate over the New Black Panther Party case, which triggered outrage from conservatives and congressional Republicans, two internal Justice Department inquiries and the civil rights commission investigation.
- The commission, which studies federal enforcement of civil rights laws,
has eight members -- four presidential appointees and four appointed by Congress.
Justice officials have said the case's dismissal was based on a legal analysis and insufficient evidence. They have denied stonewalling the commission's investigation, saying they provided more than 4,000 pages of documents.
- "The department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved,'' said Tracy Schmaler, a Justice Department spokeswoman. "We are committed to comprehensive and vigorous enforcement of the federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation.''
In the Philadelphia incident, two New Black Panther Party members were videotaped standing outside a polling place on Election Day in 2008 wearing paramilitary uniforms. One carried a nightstick. Although no voters had complained,"...
- This statement doesn't match testimony from a commission hearing, reported: 7/07/10: "At an April 23 Commission hearing, witnesses testified to how the Black Panthers acted in concert, threatening black Republicans and whites who showed up. Two witnesses testified that they saw some would-be voters turn back and leave without voting after seeing the nightstick and being called "white devils."...one of the Black Panthers was in fact an official poll-watcher for the Democratic Party and an elected local party official. "...
(continuing, Washington Post): "the Bush administration sued the the men, the national party and its chairman.
After President Obama took office, the Justice Department dismissed the charges against three defendants and obtained a narrowed injunction against the fourth,
- even though the defendants had not contested the case.
The commission's draft report said the department's "repeated attempts to obscure" the involvement of political appointees in the dismissal "raise questions about what the Department is trying to hide. ''
The commission's findings are based mostly on the testimony of two Justice Department attorneys involved in the case, as well as media reports, including a recent article in The Washington Post. That article said the case tapped into deep divisions within the Justice Department
- over whether the agency should focus on protection of historically oppressed minorities or
- enforcement of laws without regard to race."
Reference: Washington Times, by J. Christian Adams, "Inside the Black Panther case, Anger, ignorance and lies": "6/25, "Citizens would be shocked to learn about the
- open and pervasive hostility within the Justice Department to bringing civil rights cases
- against nonwhite defendants on behalf of white victims."...
Video from 11/4/08 report from the polling place where New Black Panthers intimidated voters. One man went over to observe after hearing of complaints. The man is described as "a Republican" as if concern about a lethal weapon at a polling place would be a partisan matter. The man was dressed in ordinary clothes went up to the building entrance and the two Panthers 'closed ranks, stood together' but the man went in anyway. The "Republican" was getting ready to go back out the door when the Panthers said, "Don't come back outside because a black man is going to win this election no matter what." As the observer went back outside, the Panther(s) said, "We're tired of white supremacy," and Malik Shabazz tapped his night stick (which is a lethal weapon) in his hand to emphasize his point. the observer subsequently called the police to the scene, they came and told the Panthers to leave, or escorted them away. The video also says police are not normally present at polling places as some feel their presence is "intimidating."
- 7/7/10: "Now imagine if this had been Tea Party members outside a polling place in Philadelphia, Miss.
- Reference: 7/07/10, "Holder's Justice is not colorblind," Investors Business Daily
