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   MATZDOBRE      The Mad Dog Matzdobre Echo      343 messages   

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   Message 198 of 343   
   Jeff Binkley to All   
   Justice Department   
   07 Jul 10 04:59:00   
   
   Let's see how far under the rug Holder will try to sweep this...   
      
   ==================================   
      
   http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/07/06/ex-official-accuses-justice-   
   department-racial-bias-black-panther-case/   
      
      
   Ex-Official Accuses Justice Department of Racial Bias in Black Panther    
   Case   
      
   Published July 06, 2010   
      
   In emotional and personal testimony, an ex-Justice official who quit    
   over the handling of a voter intimidation case against the New Black    
   Panther Party accused his former employer of instructing attorneys in    
   the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants    
   and white victims.    
      
   J. Christian Adams, testifying Tuesday before the U.S. Commission on    
   Civil Rights, said that "over and over and over again," the department    
   showed "hostility" toward those cases. He described the Black Panther    
   case as one example of that -- he defended the legitimacy of the suit    
   and said his "blood boiled" when he heard a Justice official claim the    
   case wasn't solid.    
      
   "It is false," Adams said of the claim.    
      
   "We abetted wrongdoing and abandoned law-abiding citizens," he later    
   testified.    
      
   The department abandoned the New Black Panther case last year. It    
   stemmed from an incident on Election Day in 2008 in Philadelphia, where    
   members of the party were videotaped in front of a polling place,    
   dressed in military-style uniforms and allegedly hurling racial slurs    
   while one brandished a night stick.    
      
   The Bush Justice Department brought the first case against three members    
   of the group, accusing them in a civil complaint of violating the Voter    
   Rights Act. The Obama administration initially pursued the case, winning    
   a default judgment in federal court in April 2009 when the Black Panther    
   members did not appear in court. But then the administration moved to    
   dismiss the charges the following month after getting one of the New    
   Black Panther members to agree to not carry a "deadly weapon" near a    
   polling place until 2012.    
      
   In a statement Tuesday, a Justice spokesman said the civil rights    
   division determined "the facts and the law did not support pursuing    
   claims" against the two other defendants and denied Adams' allegations.    
      
   "The department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the    
   race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved. We are committed to    
   comprehensive and vigorous enforcement of both the civil and criminal    
   provisions of the federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation," the    
   spokesman said.    
      
   The Civil Rights Commission, which subpoenaed Adams, has been probing    
   the incident since last year. Adams said he ignored department    
   directives not to testify and eventually quit after he heard Assistant    
   Attorney General Thomas Perez testify that there were concerns the Black    
   Panther case was not supported by the facts.    
      
   Adams has described the case as open-and-shut and said Tuesday that it    
   was a "very low moment" to hear Perez make that claim.    
      
   But he described the department's hostility toward that and other cases    
   involving black defendants as "pervasive." Adams cited hostility in the    
   department toward a 2007 voting rights case against a black official in    
   Mississippi who was accused of trying to intimidate voters. Adams said    
   that when the Black Panther case came up, he heard officials in the    
   department say it was "no big deal" and "media-generated" and point to    
   "Fox News" as the source.    
      
   But as the investigation unfolded, he said he discovered "indications"    
   that the Black Panther Party was doing the "same thing" to supporters of    
   former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during the Democratic    
   primary season in early 2008. He urged the commission to pursue    
   testimony from other Justice officials to corroborate his story.    
      
   It's unclear how far the commission will get. The commissioners want to    
   hear from Christopher Coates, the former chief of the Justice    
   Department's voting section, but the commission claims the Justice    
   Department is blocking Coates from testifying about why the case was    
   dropped.    
      
   In a written statement last week, the department questioned the motives    
   of Adams, now an attorney in Virginia and a blogger for Pajamas Media.    
      
   "It is not uncommon for attorneys with the department to have good faith    
   disagreements about the appropriate course of action in a particular    
   case, although it is regrettable when a former department attorney    
   distorts the facts and makes baseless allegations to promote his or her    
   agenda," the statement said.    
      
   Adams said Tuesday that his personal views played no part in his    
   handling of the case. He also said he did not fight to testify before    
   the commission but resigned after the department would not take action    
   to quash the subpoena.   
      
   CMPQwk 1.42-21 9999    
   Hope and change = $1T deficit and 10%+ unemployment .....   
      
   --- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 10   
    * Origin:  (1:226/600)   

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