Court rules DOJ politicized Black Panther case
Judicial Watch has been confident for some time that evidence shows political appointees at the Holder Department of Justice (DOJ) were involved in the decision to abandon the DOJ’s own voter intimidation lawsuit against the New Black Panther Party.
In a major victory for Judicial Watch, a federal court seems to agree with that analysis of continuing scandal.
The ruling came courtesy of Judge Reggie B. Walton of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in response to Judicial Watch’s effort to obtain attorney’s fees from the DOJ for stonewalling the release of documents pertaining to the Black Panther scandal. Here’s the key quote from Judge Walton’s ruling:
The documents reveal that political appointees within DOJ were conferring about the status and resolution of the New Black Panther Party case in the days preceding the DOJ’s dismissal of claims in that case, which would appear to contradict Assistant Attorney General Perez’s testimony that political leadership was not involved in that decision. Surely the public has an interest in documents that cast doubt on the accuracy of government officials’ representations regarding the possible politicization of agency decision-making.
In sum, the Court concludes that three of the four fee entitlement factors weigh in favor of awarding fees to Judicial Watch. Therefore, Judicial Watch is both eligible and entitled to fees and costs, and the Court must now consider the reasonableness of Judicial Watch’s requested award.
So, in short, this ruling is further confirmation that political appointees at the DOJ did interfere in the Black Panther case. Assistant AG Perez’s testimony was false. And the American people have a right to documents related to the scandal. That’s pretty much a clear-cut victory.
By way of review, this all started on Election Day 2008, when members of the New Black Panther Party stood guard at a polling station in Philadelphia, PA, brandishing weapons and threatening voters. A video of the incident was widely distributed on the Internet - click here to view the video on YouTube. The DOJ filed a civil lawsuit against the Black Panthers, but ultimately overruled members of its own staff and dismissed the majority of the charges.
Click here for more from Breitbart.com.
J. Christian Adams a former United States Department of Justice official who has accused the DOJ of racial bias in its handling of this voter intimidation case and other racialist activity is the author of the recent book, "Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department," click here to reach Amazon.com for more information.
Tulsa Today includes Adams’ work as a part of our current affairs library and encourages careful consideration. In addition, the refusal of Eric Holder to comply with Congressional requests for information and President Obama’s extension of Executive Privilege over DOJ activity in the “Fast and Furious” scandal is, in total, compelling evidence that the Obama Administration does not consider itself bound by the Rule of Law thus becoming, in itself, a threat to America.