In my column on Tuesday (see here, with a Corner correction here), I suggested that candidates running for office should pledge to investigate the Obama Justice Department. Today, there is eye-popping new evidence to add to the already disturbing indications that the department is engaged in racially discriminatory enforcement of the civil-rights laws, and that high-ranking department officials have both obstructed justice and provided intentionally false testimony in the Civil Rights Commission’s investigation of the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case.
At the Standard’s blog, Daniel Halper has a must-read post, relying on the tireless investigative work of Jen Rubin. It relates to DOJ attorney Christopher Coates, the whistleblower who recently defied the DOJ’s efforts to block him from testifying before the Civil Rights Commission. The Commission sought to question him about, among other things, (a) whether the Obama/Holder Justice Department has followed a policy of racially discriminatory law enforcement, and (b) whether DOJ Civil Rights Division chief Thomas Perez was truthful in May 2010 when he told the Civil Rights Commission, under oath, that he was unaware of any complaints within the Department that DOJ leadership had imposed a policy of racially discriminatory enforcement of the civil-rights laws (see Jen’s Contentions post, here).
You should read all of Dan’s post, but here is the gist:
Jen Rubin previously reported in THE WEEKLY STANDARD that an April 2010 letter documented Coates’s key allegations. THE WEEKLY STANDARD has learned that the letter came from Coates himself and was sent to Jody Hunt, director of federal programs. Hunt participated in the briefing of Civil Rights head Thomas Perez on May 13, 2010, which Coates and other members of the trial team attended. At that briefing, Coates’s concerns were related to Perez. Perez nevertheless testified under oath before the Commission that hostility toward race neutral enforcement of civil rights laws was news to him.
In addition, sources now tell THE WEEKLY STANDARD that after 11 pm on September 23, the night before Coates was to testify before the Commission, the same individual, Jody Hunt, sent Coates a letter advising him again not to testify. Only 6 hours earlier Rep. Frank Wolf had sent [attorney general] Eric Holder a letter warning him that Coates was protected under federal whistleblower laws. Jen Rubin contacted the Justice Department for comment. Spokesman Tracy Schmaler’s only reply: “The letter speaks for itself.” She did not respond to a follow up question as to whether DOJ would take disciplinary action against Coates. Coates could not be reached for comment.
To sum up: Coates puts his explosive allegations about unequal enforcement of civil rights laws in writing. The same official who gets the letter sits in a briefing with Perez when the allegations are repeated. And then at literally the 11th hour before Coates testifies he sends out a letter which makes one last stab at keeping the story under wraps. Jen Rubin’s sources tell us that it’s not remotely possible that all of this would have occurred without the express knowledge and direction of senior DOJ officials.
The vast majority of Americans want race-neutral law enforcement, would be profoundly offended by any other kind, and minimally expect the Justice Department to be forthright and forthcoming in legal proceedings — particularly given that Justice demands nothing less of ordinary Americans. It is Congress’s job to hold the DOJ to account. The Democratic Congress clearly has no intention of examining the policies and practices of the Obama Justice Department. That’s a huge reason why we need a new Congress. The mainstream media has tried to suffocate this story by inattention, but it hasn’t worked because race-neutral law enforcement is something people care about. Congressional candidates, take note.