Muslims

GOP Unwittingly Sticks Up For Sharia

Sahil Kapur | February 28, 2012, 5:00PM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), sponsor of the 'Stop Online Piracy Act.'

In their ongoing attempt to portray the Obama administration's birth control rule as infringing on religious freedom, House Republicans invited a Muslim witness to a hearing who pointed out that such a precedent could permit the government to make laws that violate Islamic code.

Asma Uddin, editor-in-chief of the Muslim-American website altmuslimah.com and an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, argued in her testimony Tuesday that the contraception mandate is a violation of the free exercise of religion under the First Amendment. Later, under questioning from House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Uddin explained how the regulation's precedent could infringe upon the rights of Muslims.

"If the government mandated everything that had positive health benefits, it could possibly mandate that everyone drink red wine for heart health even though it violates the religious beliefs of Muslims," Uddin said.

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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Conservatives Quiet After Saying Civilian System Couldn't Handle Underwear Bomber

Ryan J. Reilly | February 17, 2012, 11:58AM

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called "underwear bomber," was sentenced to life in prison Thursday following his trial in federal court. Two years ago, Republicans insisted trying Abdulmutallab in federal court was a terrible idea.

There was a time when the circumstances surrounding Abdulmutallab's arrest were part of a lengthy national debate about the best way to handle terrorism cases. There were letters, television appearances and press releases calling on the Obama administration to reverse its position and send Abdulmutallab into the military tribunal system due to perceived weaknesses in the civilian court system.

Now that he's locked up for life, it's pretty much radio silence. A search for press releases mentioning Abdulmutallab from members of Congress this week turns up just one, from Rep. Adam Smith (D-WA), who said the sentence 'demonstrations that our federal court system is fully capable of bringing terrorist to justice."

Still it's worth revisiting just what critics of the civilian court system predicted. Some examples:

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Fast And Furious

Eric Holder To Testify On Fast And Furious As Dems Call On Ex-ATF Director Melson

Ryan J. Reilly | October 28, 2011, 2:50PM

Attorney General Eric Holder is set to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on Dec. 8 about ATF's flawed Fast and Furious operation that let guns flow to Mexican drug cartels, a Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to TPM.

Holder has agreed to a request from Oversight Committee Chairman Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) to testify before the Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Oversight Committee Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) said in a statement.

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Rick Perry

Feds: Rick Perry-Signed Texas Redistricting Plan Reduces Voting Power Of 479,704 Hispanics

Ryan J. Reilly | October 26, 2011, 6:00AM

Texas Governor and Presidential Candidate Rick Perry (R)

There is "ample circumstantial evidence" that the congressional and state representative redistricting maps signed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry had not only the effect but the intent of limiting the voting power of Hispanic voters, Justice Department lawyers said in a court filing late Tuesday.

DOJ is seeking to block the maps, filing to deny Texas' request for summary judgement in a case involving allegations that state officials tried to limit the voter power of Hispanic voters in violation of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.

Federal lawyers contended in the newest filing that there is "ample circumstantial evidence of a discriminatory purpose with regard to both the State House and Congressional plans" and that in the new maps nearly half a million fewer Hispanics would live in districts where they would have the ability to elect a candidate of their choosing.

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Eric Holder

'Operation Wide Receiver': The Bush Administration Had Its Very Own ATF 'Gun Walking' Scandal

Ryan J. Reilly | October 4, 2011, 3:50PM

Fmr. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and President George W. Bush

Updated: Oct. 4, 6:45PM

Know how Republicans have been blaming the Obama administration for a local ATF office's decision to let thousands of guns "walk" into Mexico? Turns out the Bush administration had a "gun walking" program of their very own.

Republicans on Tuesday called for a special prosecutor to look into whether Attorney General Eric Holder perjured himself during testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on ATF's Fast and Furious scandal.

Holder had testified on May 3 that he was "not sure of the exact date, but I probably heard about Fast and Furious for the first time over the last few weeks."

Documents have now emerged showing that the "Fast and Furious" program came up in the course of a couple of Holder's extensive weekly reports on ongoing developments in the Justice Department and its components in July 2010 and again in October 2010.

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Steve King

Steve King Says Obama's 'Drunken Uncle Omar' Should Be Called Before Congress (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2011, 11:56AM

Rep. Steve King (R-IA)

Rep. Steve King (R-IA) wants to bring President Obama's uncle, Onyango Obama, before Congress to testify on whether he received preferential treatment after he was arrested for allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol.

"We have to bring drunken 'Uncle Omar' in front of the House Judiciary Committee, drill down into this, and tell America what's going on," King told Fox News, referring to Obama's uncle, who is in the country illegally.

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Lamar Smith

Lamar Smith: Obama's 'Backdoor Amnesty' Benefits 'Drunk-Driving Illegal Immigrants Like His Uncle'

Ryan J. Reilly | September 9, 2011, 2:20PM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Updated: September 9, 2011, 3:45PM

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) is accusing President Barack Obama of a "double standard" because his uncle, an illegal immigrant, was released from prison after he was arrested from driving under the influence.

Obama's uncle Onyango Obama was arrested in Massachusetts last month, charged with failing to yield, operating a motor vehicle to endanger and a DUI.

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Voting Rights Act

In E-mails, Texas GOPers Worried Feds Would Say Redistricting Map Diluted Hispanic Voting Power

Ryan J. Reilly | August 16, 2011, 11:20AM

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Civil rights groups are worried that Republicans running redistricting in Texas are breaking the federal Voting Rights Act by diluting Hispanic voting strength. So too, apparently, were the Republicans themselves.

Emails recently released by a federal judge in the course of a lawsuit over the redistricting map drawn by Texas Republicans show those involved in the redistricting process were worried that DOJ or a federal court wouldn't approve their plan. As they worked on the plan in the spring and early summer, at least one GOPer expressed concerns that the feds would say they didn't do enough to strengthen the voting power of Hispanic residents of the state even though the population of Hispanic residents ballooned over 90 percent between the 2000 and 2010 censuses.

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DOMA

Lamar Smith Says Founding Fathers Didn't Want Gay Marriage

Ryan J. Reilly | April 18, 2011, 10:13AM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

In yet another instance of House Republicans focusing on social rather than fiscal issues, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee on Friday held a hearing examining the Obama administration's decision not the defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court because they found a provision of the law unconstitutional.

Several Republicans including Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, bashed the Justice Department's decision not to defend the law. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) said last month that Congress would hire counsel to defend DOMA itself following a party line vote of the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Council.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Ethics Office: No Evidence That Politics, Race Influenced New Black Panther Party Case

Ryan J. Reilly | March 29, 2011, 6:05PM

Members of the New Black Panthers Party outside a polling place in Philadelphia, PA during the 2008 elections.

The Obama Justice Department did not improperly let politics or the race of the defendants affect the handling of a high-profile civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, a probe by DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) concluded after an extensive investigation.

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House Judiciary

Rove Protege Tim Griffin Now On Judiciary Committee

Ryan J. Reilly | January 3, 2011, 1:45PM

A few years ago, Tim Griffin was a key figure in of the biggest scandals in the Bush administration. Democrats said -- and the Justice Department Inspector General later concluded -- that the Bush White House and Justice Department pushed out U.S. Attorney H.E. "Bud" Cummins III to give Griffin, a former aide to presidential adviser Karl Rove, a plum spot as interim U.S. attorney that would pad his resume.

Now Griffin, who was elected to Congress from Arkansas in November, has been named by House Republicans to be a member of the House Judiciary Committee -- the very same committee which took a close look at his own role in the scandal that ultimately lead to the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Action In Philly Bullying Case At Odds With Right-Wing Meme

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2010, 8:45AM

Fueling conservative outrage over the Justice Department's handling of the New Black Panther Party case is the suggestion that the Obama administration refuses to pursue civil rights charges if the defendants are African-American. DOJ officials have said their decision not to pursue charges against some of the defendants originally named in a voter intimidation case filed in the final days of the Bush administration was based on the merits of the case and not the skin color of the defendants.

Now here's the latest indication that no such policy exists: DOJ's Civil Rights Division announced Wednesday they'd reached a settlement agreement with Philadelphia's school district to protect Asian students at a South Philly high school from harassment by bullies who the students say are predominately African-American.

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Darrell Issa

The GOP Plan To Investigate Obama: The First Four Potential Investigations

Ryan J. Reilly and Johanna Barr | November 3, 2010, 10:37AM

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Reps. Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Lamar Smith (R-TX) have been attacking the Obama administration since pretty much the day Barack Obama took office. Until now, as just the ranking members of two powerful House committees and members of the minority party, their criticisms of administration officials and their decisions have been mostly limited to issuing press releases.

Now -- as the expected chairmen of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Judiciary Committee, respectively -- they're the proud new holders of subpoena power, will have a much more robust unit of investigators and will likely be a huge thorn in the side of President Obama and his top cabinet members.

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DOJ Civil Rights Division

DOJ Inspector General Will Investigate Civil Rights Division's Voting Section

Ryan J. Reilly | September 13, 2010, 7:02PM

DOJ Inspector General Glenn Fine and Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA)

Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine says he will examine the Civil Rights Division's enforcement of voting rights laws after being pressured by GOP House members to examine DOJ's handling of a case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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