Is The Obama Regime's DOJ Racist?

From Judicial Watch:

Is the Obama Justice Department Racist?




What started as a mild headache for the Obama administration has now turned into a raging migraine — all because of the Black Panther scandal that exploded into the news in recent weeks.



In the last installment of the Update, I told you how Judicial Watch has uncovered evidence that the Obama administration lied when it said no political leadership at the Department of Justice (DOJ) was involved in the DOJ’s decision to abandon the voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. In fact, we provided the evidence that the second and third ranking officials at the DOJ — and perhaps even Attorney General Holder himself — were involved in deliberations over the Black Panther case.



(Feel free to click here for last week’s Update to catch some of the back-story. And click here to see my appearance on Fox News Sunday where I also discuss the scandal.)



After the press hammered the DOJ last week in response to the new evidence uncovered by Judicial Watch, DOJ attorney Christopher Coates rocked his agency when he testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. The Commission has been trying to investigate the scandal in the face of Obama Justice stonewalling and disinformation.



Coates courageously testified despite being told by his superiors not to testify (and to ignore the Commission’s subpoena!). Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez tried to keep Coates from blowing the whistle. You will recall Perez was the DOJ official who himself testified — falsely, I might add — that no political appointees were involved in the Black Panther decision.



I was able to attend his testimony in person, and I can tell you it was shocking.



Now here’s what Coates said, according to The Washington Post. (If you want to read the full testimony, click here.)



Coates, former head of the voting section that brought the case, testified in defiance of his supervisor’s instructions and has been granted whistleblower protection. Coates criticized what he called the “gutting” of the New Black Panthers case for “irrational reasons,” saying the decision was part of “deep-seated” opposition among the department’s leaders to filing voting-rights cases against minorities and cases that protect whites.



“I had people who told me point-blank that [they] didn’t come to the voting rights section to sue African American people,” said Coates, who transferred to the U.S. attorney’s office in South Carolina in January. “When you are paid by the taxpayer, that is totally indefensible.”



Oh, it’s indefensible alright. But that doesn’t mean the DOJ won’t defend it:



“The department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved,” said Justice Department spokeswoman Tracy Schmaler. “We are committed to comprehensive and vigorous enforcement of the federal laws that prohibit voter intimidation.”



Then, taking a page from the well-worn leftist playbook, Schmaler managed to find a way to blame former President Bush and conservatives for the scandal.



Coates is hard to caricature as a Bush conservative. He was hired at the DOJ during the Clinton administration and had gotten his start working for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He also received an award for his voting rights work from the NAACP. And his testimony corroborates J. Christian Adams’ testimony to the Commission a few months ago. Adams also testified that Obama political appointees were openly opposed to bringing voting rights litigation against minorities. (Adams had to resign from the DOJ over its lawless handling of the Black Panther scandal and its cover-up.)



And as for the Obama DOJ’s “vigorous enforcement” of laws against voter intimidation, here you have members of the Black Panthers brandishing weapons and hurling insults at would-be voters to intimidate them. And DOJ officials overruled their own staff attorneys and dismissed the case.



Why?



Well, if you ask Coates, the reason is simple: “…a deep-seated opposition to the equal enforcement of the Voting Rights Act against racial minorities and for the protection of whites who have been discriminated against.”



In fact, Coates was told by his supervisor to stop asking prospective DOJ attorneys whether they would enforce the law without regard to race.



And, to top it off, Coates accused the Obama DOJ of repeatedly dissembling (under oath) about how the Black Panther case was handled. Coates simply refused to sit still in the face of the “incorrect representations” being made by his superiors at the Obama Justice Department. Judicial Watch commends Mr. Coates for his public service.



So now we now know that the Obama Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division ought to be subject to a civil rights investigation. And if Coates, Adams, and what we’ve been able to uncover through our FOIA lawsuit are any guide, the investigation ought to be a criminal one.