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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Civil Rights Panel to Renew Subpoenas, Pursue Federal Probe in Black Panther Case |
| 2010-07-08 |
| The bipartisan panel investigating allegations that the Justice Department wrongly abandoned a case against the New Black Panther Party plans to issue a new round of subpoenas and call for a separate federal probe following explosive testimony from an ex-Justice official, a commissioner said. As the case heats up, members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights may even travel to South Carolina to track down one witness. Former Justice attorney J. Christian Adams on Tuesday testified before the commission that his former employer not only abandoned the voter intimidation case for racial reasons, but had instructed attorneys in the civil rights division to ignore cases that involve black defendants and white victims. Commissioner Ashley Taylor said the panel will send out a letter as early as Wednesday calling for the Justice Department to open an investigation into the charge. The letter will go to Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, who in May told the panel to bring any such claims "to our attention" if there's evidence. "I think (the testimony) provided the evidence of the policy he said he was unaware of," Taylor said, calling Adams' allegations "serious" and "shocking." Further, after Adams repeatedly urged the commission to pursue testimony from former voting section chief Christopher Coates -- whom the Justice Department is accused of shielding -- Taylor said the commission will renew its subpoenas for Coates and others. He expressed optimism that the attention and interest building in the case would put pressure on Justice to free Coates to testify. "I could tell just from the reaction of the other commissioners, we want to hear from him," he told FoxNews.com on Wednesday. "I am confident that if we just keep asking the right questions ... all the facts will come out." Taylor said the Coates subpoena would go out within the month, and that commissioners may even travel to South Carolina, where Coates has been transferred, to issue the subpoena. The rules require that the commission be within 100 miles of a witness in order to issue one. Adams, who has been accused by the Justice Department of distorting the facts and promoting his own "agenda," repeatedly claimed Tuesday that Coates would be able to corroborate his story. 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. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 Hell, I'll help pick up a corner of the bus (it's gettin pretty crowded under there). |
| Posted by: notascrename 2010-07-08 22:05 |
| #6 Me too, I'll get behind it and push if I have to. |
| Posted by: bigjim-CA 2010-07-08 15:47 |
| #5 If Barry and Holder are BOTH thrown under the bus, I'll take notice. Posted by: Besoeker 2010-07-08 12:33 What can I do to help? |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2010-07-08 15:38 |
| #4 #3 Maybe if Zero ends up having to throw Holder under the bus they'll notice. Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 If Barry and Holder are BOTH thrown under the bus, I'll take notice. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2010-07-08 12:33 |
| #3 Maybe if Zero ends up having to throw Holder under the bus they'll notice. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2010-07-08 11:49 |
| #2 Gee Ed, there's lot of things WaPo isn't noticing lately. For example, not one word about NASA's new mission to help the self-esteem of Muslims. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2010-07-08 09:20 |
| #1 The non writing of history is in full effect. The most important political story of the day and in the Washington Post: Not on the Front page. Not on the Politics page. Not on the Opinion Page. Not on the Federal Government page. Matter of fact a seach of "Civil Rights Panel" returns no mention of this. Nothing on Ezra Klein's Super Duper page. One would think at least one of the 400 crack JournoList Super Sleuth reporters would have notice this illegal effort to subvert the American election system by the sitting federal government. But no. Spit. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-07-08 08:29 |