Christopher Coates

Lawyer Defending South Carolina's Voter ID Law Thinks DOJ Is Biased Against White People

Ryan J. Reilly | January 11, 2012, 5:53AM

Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC)

Updated: Jan. 11, 11:45AM

South Carolina officials plan to file suit against the federal government because the Justice Department stopped the state from implementing a voter ID law that the state's own statistics showed would have a disparate impact on non-white voters. Fighting on their behalf will be a former DOJ official who claimed that the Civil Rights Division is opposed to protecting the civil rights of whites and who defended the Bush-era politicalization of the division by Bradley Schlozman as an effort to "diversify."

South Carolina has hired former Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates, who defied DOJ's instructions and testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights during the Republican-led probe into the infamous New Black Panther Party case, a spokesman for the South Carolina attorney general's office told The State newspaper.

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voter intimidation

Justice Department Sends Poll Watchers Into County Where White Voters Were Intimidated

Ryan J. Reilly | August 22, 2011, 2:00PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

Attorney General Eric Holder is sending poll watchers into a Mississippi county where white voters were previously found to have been intimidated by a Democratic official who is African-American.

The Justice Department announced Monday they were sending poll watchers to monitor runoff elections in Mississippi's Noxubee County, as well as in Bolivar, Tunica and Wilkinson counties to ensure their compliance with the Voting Rights Act of 1965. DOJ also monitored the first primary election in Noxubee County earlier this month.

The 2005 Noxubee case was the first ever so-called "reverse" discrimination voter intimidation case in the history of the Voting Rights Act. Ike Brown, the chairman of Noxubee County's Democratic Executive Committee in Mississippi, was found to have been trying to limit the participation of white voters in local elections.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

With Bipartisan Balance Restored, Civil Rights Commission Will Examine Bullying Of LGBT Students

Ryan J. Reilly | April 19, 2011, 12:15PM

Commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Roberta Achtenberg and Michael Yaki, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.

Following a Bush-era move to stack the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights with conservatives, the bipartisan balance of the commission has officially been restored. Democratic appointees on the commission are planning to drastically change the direction of the federal agency, which while under conservative control spent nearly a year and a half examining the Obama administration's handling of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Probe Finds Obama Appointee Wouldn't Allow Outright Dismissal Of New Black Panther Party Case

Ryan J. Reilly | April 7, 2011, 5:01PM

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

An Obama administration official at the Justice Department told a subordinate that he wouldn't accept the outright dismissal of a high-profile civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, according to a report by DOJ's internal ethics office.

The report from DOJ's Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found that Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perrelli told Loretta King (the then-acting Assistant Attorney General of the Civil Rights Division) that he "would accept any outcome in the case so long as the entire case was not dismissed outright (because a man with a nightstick at a polling place appeared to present a case of voter intimidation) and the proposed relief did not violate the Constitution." Adam Serwer first reported on the conclusions of the full OPR report, which was posted online by the Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee this afternoon.

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Michael Yaki

Surprise! Investigation Doesn't End GOP Complaints About New Black Panther Case

Ryan J. Reilly | March 30, 2011, 2:35PM

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX)

Nearly two and a half years after two members of the New Black Panther Party stood outside a polling station in Philadelphia -- and after an extensive internal probe found no improper political influence of the Justice Department's decision to drop a civil voter intimidation case against all but one of the defendants -- conservatives are showing no signs they'll let the issue drop.

As TPM reported yesterday, the Justice Department said in a letter to members of Congress that after an extensive investigation, they found that neither the race of the defendants or political considerations affected the Justice Department's handling of the voter intimidation case.

But many on the right smell a cover up. FoxNation.com called it a "whitewash." J. Christian Adams, the conservative lawyer hired during the Bush administration who was one of two Civil Rights Division Voting Section line attorneys who filed case, wrote for the website Pajamas Media that the "fix came in."

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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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Michael Yaki

Civil Rights Commission May Examine Anti-Muslim Discrimination

Ryan J. Reilly | March 8, 2011, 12:00PM

Michael Yaki, a former member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights who is awaiting reappointment, tells TPM he's planning to propose the federal body examine the rise of anti-Islam and anti-Arab discrimination in America once he rejoins the agency.

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New Black Panthers

Holder: Rhetoric On New Black Panther Case Does 'Great Disservice' To Civil Rights History

Ryan J. Reilly | March 1, 2011, 3:20PM

Attorney General Eric Holder went up for his first round of hearings in the Republican-controlled House on Tuesday, where he faced questions over the Justice Department's handling of a two-year-old voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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New Black Panthers

New Civil Rights Commission Suspends Printing Of New Black Panther Report

Ryan J. Reilly | February 14, 2011, 1:05PM

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

Newly appointed members of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights closed their investigation of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case and suspended publication of hard copies of the report at a meeting last week.

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New Black Panthers

Breitbart, Adams Respond To Criticism Of Their Role In New Black Panther Case

January 29, 2011, 11:40AM

Former DOJ Official J Christian Adams and Andrew Breitbart

Two Democrats on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights say that J. Christian Adams, the former Justice Department lawyer at the heart of the scandal over the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case, isn't credible because he contributes to a "race-baiting" website run by conservative pundit Andrew Breitbart.

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New Black Panthers

Poll Watcher To New Black Panther Party Videographer: 'Don't F**k Up The Story' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 28, 2011, 11:10AM

Stephen Robert Morse was a freelance journalist and videographer working as a poll watcher for the local Republican Party in Philadelphia in 2008 when he got the call of his lifetime.

Members of the New Black Panther Party, he was told, were standing outside a polling place in an overwhelmingly African-American section of the city.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

New White House Picks (Almost) Rebalance Civil Rights Commission

Ryan J. Reilly | January 27, 2011, 11:45AM

Roberta Achtenberg and Marty R. Castro

President Barack Obama on Wednesday appointed two new commissioners to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, a federal agency best know recently for its partisan focus on investigating the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case. The White House's move will rebalance what was intended to be a bipartisan panel which came under conservative control thanks to a move during the Bush administration to "game" the system.

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James Cole

GOPers Attack DOJ Appointee Over Terror Trial Views; Holder Preps For Headaches

Ryan J. Reilly | December 30, 2010, 4:53PM

James Cole, the man whom President Barack Obama announced yesterday will be given a recess appoint to the Justice Department's No. 2 position, is quickly emerging as a top target of Republican members of Congress due to his support for the use of civilian courts in terrorism trials.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Eric Holder and DOJ staffers are gearing up for onslaught of criticism from the GOP on political hot topics like terrorism, immigration and what Holder called a "made-up controversy" over the department's handling of a two-year-old voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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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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Curtiss Reed Jr.

Civil Rights Commission Ousts VT Chair Over Anti-Bush Comments, Nazi Comparison

Ryan J. Reilly | December 7, 2010, 4:08PM

Curtiss Reed

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights ousted the chairman of the agency's Vermont State Advisory Committee last week over an October column in which he wrote that the Republican gubernatorial candidate's "Pure Vermont" slogan "raises the specter of Hilter's Aryan Nation and the Khmer Rouge, where the purifying agent was genocide."

The commission voted not to reauthorize the reappointment of Curtiss Reed Jr. as chair of the Vermont SAC, though he had the unanimous support of the rest of the Vermont committee. In an interview with TPM on Tuesday, Reed said his remarks were not intended to imply that former gubernatorial candidate Brian Dubie was a racist.

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New Black Panthers

Conservatives Approve Interim Report Slamming DOJ On New Black Panther Case

Ryan J. Reilly | November 19, 2010, 12:16PM

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today voted to approve what they are now calling an "interim" report on the Justice Department's handling of the voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

Commissioners voted 5-2 along ideological lines to approve the report on their investigation, which started back in the summer of 2009. The vote came after talks between DOJ and the Commission to allow officials to testify on the case broke down because, the Justice Department says, of the "unilateral" terms set up by the Commission.

Michael Yaki, a Democrat on the Commission, said his colleagues had lost focus and were engaged in a "Beltway game" over an isolated incident that took place at a polling place in Philadelphia on election day in 2008.

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New Black Panthers

DOJ Scraps Black Panther Depositions Over Commission's 'Unilateral' Terms

Ryan J. Reilly | November 16, 2010, 10:01AM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Loretta King (bottom).

Justice Department lawyer Loretta King was supposed to be deposed at 10 a.m. today by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on the Department's handling of a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party. But the Justice Department said late Monday that it "will not agree to the unilateral conditions" set forth by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights for depositions of three DOJ employees.

The conservatives who dominate the Civil Rights Commission had accused the Justice Department in a letter sent yesterday of "smothering" their report on the New Black Panther case by requiring the commission share information as a condition of the DOJ employees' testimony. That civil voter intimidation case was filed in the waning days of the Bush administration after an incident at a Philadelphia polling station in which a member of the New Black Panther Party held a nightstick.

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New Black Panthers

Civil Rights Commission: DOJ 'Smothering' Black Panthers Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | November 15, 2010, 4:07PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Loretta King (bottom).

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on Monday accused the Justice Department of "delaying and smothering" the agency's investigation into the handling of a voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

Late last month, commissioners subpoenaed four Justice Department staff members as part of their probe into DOJ's handling of the voter intimidation case which stemmed from an incident in Philadelphia on Election Day in 2008. In a letter sent last week, the Justice Department agreed to allow the testimony of three Justice Department officials, so long as their testimony would be reflected in the Commission's report.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservatives Subpoena More DOJ Officials In Black Panther Probe

Ryan J. Reilly | November 4, 2010, 3:20PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Christopher Coates (bottom).

With less than two months left until the conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights loses control of the agency, the Republican and libertarian members are hoping to breath new life into the controversy over the Justice Department's decision in the New Black Panther case by subpoenaing four more DOJ officials. The subpoenas -- first announced at a meeting on Friday -- show that depositions have been set up in mid-November, a TPMMuckraker review of the documents sent to the Justice Department shows.

The new subpoenas were sent to former acting Civil Rights Division Assistant Attorney General Loretta King; her former deputy, Sam Hirsch; Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes and Deputy Assistant Attorney General Steve Rosenbaum, a career employee.

In an e-mail to the commissioners, DOJ's Director of Federal Programs Joseph H. ("Jody") Hunt accepted service of the subpoenas on behalf of the Department employees on Oct. 28. The Justice Department previously declined to comply with subpoenas issued by the commission on the issue and instructed two employees to ignore them (one DOJ employee quit and testified anyway, another stayed at DOJ but testified against their instructions). A DOJ spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the new subpoenas.

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New Black Panthers

Philly Officials: New Black Panther At Philly Polls 'Doing Nothing'

Ryan J. Reilly | November 2, 2010, 3:35PM

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

A member of the New Black Panther Party was spotted by a local Fox station today at the same polling location at which he was videotaped two years ago. His presence at that facility in 2008, along with a nightstick-wielding colleague, led to a controversial voter intimidation case that has dogged the Obama administration for over a year and a half.

Fox provided a photo of the individual and reported that he was seen outside the polling place "wearing a pin that indicated his party affiliation, along with a black hat, sunglasses and leather coat." The polling location, Guild House West, is located in a majority African-American neighborhood in northern Philadelphia.

The individual appears to be Jerry Jackson, who had a poll-watching certificate back in 2008 and was originally named in the civil voter intimidation case bought in the waning days of the Bush administration. The Obama administration did not pursue the case against Jackson or the national party, but did obtain an injunction against fellow NBPP member King Samir Shabazz, who carried a nightstick.

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Barack Obama

Conservative PAC Ad Brings Together The Best-Of Anti-Obama Memes (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | November 1, 2010, 2:43PM

The National Republican Trust PAC has launched a video that features a number of anti-Obama memes

The National Republican Trust PAC has launched a 25-minute video in several key states attacking President Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress and linking them to extremist groups and opinions. The video brings up ACORN and the New Black Panther Party -- and not-so-subtlety implies Obama is a Muslim, though the group behind the video says that is not the intention.

It is running heavy in North Carolina, Iowa, Kentucky, Delaware, Alaska, and Florida, Scott Wheeler, executive director of the National Republican Trust PAC, told TPMMuckraker. It began running on television stations last week but has been online for about two weeks, he said.

The ad features Muslim chanting layered over clips of Obama speaking about Islam. "Instead of standing up for America, he bowed to the King of Saudi Arabia," the video says. But Wheeler said that ad isn't intended to imply Obama is a Muslim.

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True The Vote

Tea Partiers and New Black Panthers To Square Off At Polls In Texas

Ryan J. Reilly | November 1, 2010, 1:15PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, and a Tea Party rally.

Members of the fringe group the New Black Panther Party have announced they intend to be at the polls in Harris County, Texas tomorrow. So has the Tea Party-backed group True the Vote -- with more than 1,000 poll watchers, they say. Both sides have already traded accusations of voter intimidation -- but, despite all their press coverage, neither will likely play a deciding factor at the polls tomorrow.

The face off between poll watchers alleging massive voter fraud in Harris County and many voters in minority neighborhoods of Houston during the early voting period have already been racially tinged. New developments indicate it will only get worse.

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New Black Panthers

Dem Prevents Civil Rights Panel Vote On New Black Panther Report (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 29, 2010, 11:52AM

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights was unable to reach a quorum today to vote approve a report critical of the Justice Department's handling of the civil voter intimidation case once brought against members of the New Black Panther Party. Democratic Commissioner Michael Yaki, who would have allowed the panel to reached a quorum, walked out of the meeting.

"This process for this entire investigation has been a farce from the beginning and done in a way to diminish the opportunity of those who oppose this investigation to participate," Yaki told reporters.

What one conservative member of the commission did discuss, however, was how TPMMuckraker was able to obtain a draft copy of the report.

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New Black Panthers

New Black Panthers Will Be Watching Polls In Houston (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 29, 2010, 9:52AM

New Black Panther Party Member Quanell X

So it turns out there actually are New Black Panthers in Houston. While they'll be at the polls this year, the leader of the New Black Panther Party in Harris County said they wouldn't be tolerating any of the type of behavior that took place in Philadelphia back in 2008.

"I want to say to all Houstonians and all people voting in Harris County, no member of the New Black Panther Party will have a nightstick or a billy club in their hand. That will not be tolerated, I can assure you of that," Quanell X told Fox in Houston.

"But what I can promise the King Street Patriots is that we will not tolerate any intimidation tactics coming from them against our elderly, our women and our young people," he added.

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Commission On Civil Rights

Civil Rights Commission Chalks Ups Bush DOJ Illegal Hiring To 'Ideological Conflict'

Ryan J. Reilly | October 28, 2010, 3:48PM

J. Christian Adams and Christopher Coates

During the Bush administration, political leadership of the Civil Rights Division illegally made career hiring decisions based on ideology, a Justice Department report concluded. Bradley Schlozman was found to have violated federal law, referring to attorneys in the Voting Section as "mold spores," and hiring conservatives he dubbed "good Americans."

But in a draft of a report they will vote on tomorrow, the conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights -- which didn't seem to take an interest in those allegations a few years ago -- chalks those violations of law up to "ideological conflict."

If the press cared so much about the politicization that took place during the Bush administration, the report says, then reporters should be all over over the allegations against the Obama administration made by two individuals with ties to that politicization.

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New Black Panthers

Conservatives' Draft Report Slams DOJ Over Black Panther Case

Ryan J. Reilly | October 28, 2010, 12:28PM

Members of the New Black Panther Party, with Todd Gaziano (top) of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and Justice Department lawyer Christopher Coates (bottom).

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights will vote tomorrow on a report -- obtained by TPMMuckraker -- slamming the Justice Department's handling of the case against the New Black Panther Party for a 2008 incident in Philadelphia in which a member showed up at a Philadelphia polling place and brandished a nightstick.

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voter fraud

Voter Fraud: There's An App For That!

Rachel Slajda | October 25, 2010, 11:50AM

Tea partiers at a tax-themed monster truck rally in Ham Lake, Minn.

The blog credited with breaking the New Black Panthers voter intimidation story in 2008 is offering a way for voters to report suspected incidents of voter fraud: An iPhone app.

The free app, called iReport and being offered by on-again off-again blog ElectionJournal.org, allows users to send reports of potential voter fraud, along with photos and video, to the blog.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservative Civil Rights Commission Spent $173K Exclusively On Black Panther Query

Ryan J. Reilly | October 25, 2010, 11:25AM

Members of the New Black Panther Party and Todd Gaziano of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

The conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says it has spent $173,653 investigating an incident involving voter intimidation by members of the New Black Panther Party -- a case in which no voters have alleged they were intimidated.

That's according to data provided by the Commission on Civil Rights in response to a Freedom of Information Act request by TPMMuckraker. As of Sept. 30, the obligations for the project stood at $173,653, up from $141,357 as of Aug. 2.

But given that entire 2010 Statutory Enforcement Report -- the biggest project of the year for the Commission -- centers on the incident in Philadelphia on Election Day 2008, the actual dollar amount spent is likely higher. Several meetings of the Commission have centered exclusively on the New Black Panther Party case -- and the commission's budget for 2010 totals in at $9.4 million.

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New Black Panthers

Tea Partiers: Minority Voting Drive Is The New Black Panther Party (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 20, 2010, 4:29PM

Catherine Engelbrecht and members of the New Black Panther Party

At a meeting of the King Street Patriots in August, the president of the Tea Party group claimed that the fringe New Black Panther Party had set up an office in Houston, eliciting gasps from the audience.

But what was that residential looking building shown in an image displayed at the presentation in reality? The headquarters of Houston Votes, which was running a voter registration drive in minority neighborhoods.

So where did Catherine Engelbrecht, the head of the Tea Party group, come up with that connection?

"From absolutely making it up," said Jim George, a lawyer representing Houston Votes, told TPMMuckraker. "It's just like 'I understand you're a member of the Klu Klux Klan' -- simply making it up."

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Former DOJ Lawyer Objects To Bush-Era Voting Section Chief's Testimony

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 12:22PM

Christopher Coates

A former Justice Department lawyer, Robert Kengle, has written the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to object to the testimony of the former head of the Voting Section, Christopher Coates. Coates accused Kengle of being leery of the Bush-era Noxubee, Miss. voter intimidation case, which was the first time that the federal government used the 1965 Voting Rights Act to allege racial discrimination against whites.

As Adam Serwer reports, Kengle wrote the conservative-controlled U.S. Commission on Civil Rights with his complaint. The Commission is examining the enforcement of the Voting Rights Act as part of their inquiry into DOJ's handling of the voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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RNLA

New Black Panther Case Served As Cash Cow For GOP Lawyers Group

Ryan J. Reilly | October 15, 2010, 2:55PM

DOJ Whistleblower J. Christian Adams

The Republican National Lawyers Association is running election training events in several states around the country. So where did they get their money?

Well, for one, by fundraising from Newsmax readers off the controversy over the Justice Department's handling of the voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

And who brought that case? J. Christian Adams, the former Justice Department lawyer who was hired by Bradley Schlozman, a former top official in the Bush administration's Civil Rights Division who was found to have politicized the hiring process.

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Civil Rights Commission

Dem: Civil Rights Commission Went 'Completely Overboard' With Holder Letter

Ryan J. Reilly | October 8, 2010, 12:17PM

Todd Gaziano (far right) is pressing forth on the New Black Panther Party issue.

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights today approved two letters addressed the Attorney General Eric Holder, alleging that the Justice Department is not enforcing civil rights laws in a race-neutral manner.

Expected to hit the press just weeks ahead of the midterm elections, a draft version of the commission's 2010 enforcement report -- focusing on DOJ's handling of the New Black Panther Party case and the alleged culture of hostility to pursuing cases against African-American defendants -- is circulating amongst the commissioners. They were asked at Friday's meeting to have their comments in by Oct. 11 to allow a revised report to be sent out Oct. 15. The commission will vote to approve the report on Oct. 22.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservatives' Draft Letter: DOJ Hostile To 'Race-Neutral' Civil Rights Enforcement (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | October 7, 2010, 4:48PM

Todd Gaziano

The conservative block of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has prepared two letters to Attorney General Eric Holder, one of which charges that the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division is hostile to the "race-neutral enforcement of the civil rights laws."

While the conservative-dominated Commission's original goal for their 2010 Enforcement Report was to only focus on the Justice Department's handling of the civil voter intimidation case against members of the New Black Panther Party, they have now expanded the report they are preparing to focus on the "culture" within the Civil Rights Division.

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voter fraud

Despite Dearth Of Evidence, Right Wing Voter Fraud Fear Machine Carries On

Ryan J. Reilly and Rachel Slajda | September 30, 2010, 8:30AM

Remember the dire warnings and shrill allegations of voter fraud surrounding the 2008 election? That ACORN would steal it, that the New Black Panthers were intimidating voters, that fraud across the county would be "rampant?"

They never panned out. ACORN no longer exists. (Although that hasn't stopped 20 percent of the American public from believing they'll try to steal the election.) The DOJ found that the New Black Panthers incident was isolated -- although that case found new life in allegations against the Justice Department itself (more on that below). A five-year effort by the Bush DOJ to weed out fraud, an effort the Obama team said was designed to suppress minority voter turnout, turned up "virtually no evidence."

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Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Ahmadinejad Met With New Black Panthers, Farrakhan In New York

Ryan J. Reilly | September 27, 2010, 3:04PM

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad met with Louis Farrakhan and members of the New Black Panther Party during his trip to the U.S., the New York Post reported.

During his trip, Ahmadinejad "wore the same tacky suit and shirt all week" and took every precaution to keep himself safe. Bulletproof glass was installed over room windows, he left through the employee entrance without stepping foot in the lobby of his hotel, and kept his head covered with a white cloth, the newspaper reported.

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New Black Panthers

Former Voting Chief Set To Testify As Conservatives Wrap Up New Black Panthers Report

Ryan J. Reilly | September 24, 2010, 9:55AM

Tom Perez, J. Christian Adams, and Christopher Coates

It's been 689 days since two men affiliated with a fringe group called the New Black Panther Party, one of them carrying a nightstick, stood outside of the a polling place dressed in military garb in an overwhelmingly African-American community in Philadelphia.

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights had been prepared today to approve a report that observers expected would blast the Obama administration for the decision to drop the civil case against all but one of defendants, which was brought in the waning days of the Bush administration.

But mid-afternoon Wednesday, the former chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who signed off on the case, Chris Coates, sent this letter to the commission chairman stating that -- in defiance of the Justice Department's order -- he would like to appear before the panel.

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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Civil Rights Commission Chairman: We're Still Relevant

Ryan J. Reilly | September 15, 2010, 11:02AM

Gail Heriot of the United States Commission on Civil Rights

About 60 people gathered at the National Press Club Tuesday afternoon for a panel on the future of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights as part of the agency's annual conference.

The question over whether the commission should continue to exist was brought up for discussion by the conservative members of the agency who planned the conference.

But two conservatives commissioners -- one who moderated the panel and another who serves as chair of the commission -- indicated they believe the agency still serves an important purpose. Commissioner Gail Heriot, an independent who has served as a GOP delegate, moderated the panel and sung the praises of the agency.

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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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U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

Conservative Civil Rights Commission Asks Congress For Permission to Sue DOJ

Ryan J. Reilly | August 16, 2010, 6:15PM

Todd Gaziano

During a heated hearing on Friday, the conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights approved a motion asking Congress to give it permission to sue the Justice Department if the department does not cooperate with USCCR subpoenas, including those in its probe of the handling of a civil case against members of the New Black Panther Party.

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New Black Panthers

Judiciary Dems Decline To Revisit New Black Panthers Case

Rachel Slajda | July 29, 2010, 12:23PM

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) has declined to hold another hearing on the New Black Panthers case, which had been requested by the committee's Republicans.

From Leahy's letter, via Greg Sargent:

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