Bombshell: Defying DOJ Instructions, Christopher Coates Will Testify on NBP Case

Pajamas Media ^ | September 22, 2010 | Hans A. von Spakovsky

[jazusamo]

In a dramatic development that could shake the political leadership of  the Justice Department, career lawyer Christopher Coates has sent a letter to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights offering to testify Friday on matters related to the controversial New Black Panthers voter-intimidation case. Click here, or on the screen capture below to read Coates’ letter in PDF form:

Ten months ago, Coates — the award-winning former chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division — was subpoenaed by the Commission to testify about the case. He was subsequently instructed by DOJ officials to ignore the subpoena.

Within the past hour, commissioners were informed that  Chairman Gerald Reynolds had spoken with Coates and that the chairman would reconvene the Commission’s ongoing hearing on Friday at 9:30 a.m. to hear Coates’s testimony.

The Civil Rights Commission has sought to obtain Coates’ testimony on Justice’s dismissal of the New Black Panther Party voter intimidation case in Philadelphia. In a recent request to Justice, the commission agreed to limit initial questioning of Coates to accusations made by former career lawyer J. Christian Adams about statements and other actions by Julie Fernandes, an Obama administration political appointee if DOJ produced Coates.

The DOJ refused.

Adams testified that Fernandes, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division in charge of voting matters, told Voting Section leadership that the Obama administration would not file election-related cases against minority defendants — no matter the alleged violation of law.

Adams also testified that Fernandes said Justice would not enforce the provisions of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Section 8 requires states to clean up voter registration lists on a regular basis by removing the names of ineligible voters who have died or moved away.

On Election Day 2008, two uniformed members of the New Black Panther Party — one wielding a club — were caught on video as they appeared to harass voters outside a Philadelphia polling place. The Voting Rights Section filed a civil lawsuit that the defendants did not answer, placing them in default.

However, the Justice Department dismissed virtually the entire case despite the objections of career attorneys.

Watch PJM for more on this remarkable news as it develops.

Hans A. von Spakovsky is a former career lawyer in the Civil Rights Division at the Justice Department.

[jazusamo]

Perez, Fernandes and Holder will not be happy, Coates will likely confirm they're liars.

[IrishCatholic]

treason bookmark.

[cripplecreek]

If it makes news I guarantee the left will try to distract us with something.

[muawiyah]

Coates has a clue about how the election is going to go in just over a month from now.

So the Democrats lose everything!

[Truth29]

Cynical forecast: Either Coates won't testify fully or he will supply testimony exonerating DOJ officials of any wrong doing. The Obama team wouldn't let this happen unless Coates has been neutralized or otherwise coerced to support DOJ.

[jazusamo]

Correct, he could have done this long before now. :)

[Gabrial]

“Adams testified that Fernandes, a deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division in charge of voting matters, told Voting Section leadership that the Obama administration would not file election-related cases against minority defendants — no matter the alleged violation of law.

Adams also testified that Fernandes said Justice would not enforce the provisions of Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Section 8 requires states to clean up voter registration lists on a regular basis by removing the names of ineligible voters who have died or moved away.”

Coates is a CAREER ATTORNEY wanting to testify under oath about these blatantly ILLEGAL directives within the DOJ coming from the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION. This is white-hot stuff.

I really think this whole charade is unraveling in front of our eyes.

Obama and Holder are going down hard.

[jazusamo]

There’s been a pretty strong belief Coates is on Christian Adams’ side on this and the Obama administration can’t stop him from testifying though he could lose his job over it.

[DrC]

Yep, the timing’s just a shame. What’s astonishing is that Eric Holder thought he could get away with this.

[SuzyQue]

Bookmark

[TexasTransplant]

It will be rescheduled or canceled or?

Too many options when intent is revealed this far in advance

TT

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

Isn’t the 24th Friday, and not tomorrow as the headline states? Did I miss a day?

[Bean Counter]

“The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it.”

George Bernard Shaw

[God luvs America]

i am concerned you are correct...

[Cicero]

I think, apart from the moral questions, that he’s between a rock and a hard place. If he stonewalls and the Republicans take over, he could be implicatred in Holder’s corruption. If he disobeys Holder, he could be fired.

And I hope he has some sort of protection, or he may end up as another Obamacide. Like that guy who worked for Obama in the State Department, and was shot in DC just before he was about to testify.

[Truth is a Weapon]

Perhaps he realized this was not going to go away when Judicial Watch uncovered the chain email between DOJ and the White House on this case. Direct White House intervention in DOJ matters is a consistent political no no. Several Attorney Generals have been done in before by this stuff.

He realizes that if the House goes to the GOP, the House subpoenas will be coming and he does not want to look like he stonewalled. This guy is a career lawyer civil servant close to retirement. Why would he want to be complicit in a crime to protect a bunch of appointed political hacks? But given this administration, I hope someone has him on suicide watch. He might behead himself before he testifies.

[jazusamo]

Yes, “Tomorrow” was in the title when I posted and PJM has since eliminated it, I’ll try and get it pulled from title.

[jazusamo]

Thanks, AM!

[Nick Danger]

[SaraJohnson]

People can go to jail for this kind of obstruction of justice and judicial watch has recieved documentation that one of the fools involved in this case lied under oath about not being in contact with politicans regarding the decision to drop the case.

This is the way corrupt governments fall apart. Sooner or later people decide to bail off the thug raft and rat out the gang to save their own careers. Holder has been doing a lot of thug gaming with the power of the DOJ. I am not so sure his dealings with Arizona have been honest and legal. Also, he’s been defending Obama’s birth thing and I am not sure the DOJ should be involved in hiding that fraud from the courts either.

[Mr. Wright]

We WILL NOT see this reported in the State-run media!

[IllumiNaughtyByNature]

and get this into breaking news while your at it.

[jazusamo]

Agreed, there’s indications DOJ thought he’d trip them up from the beginning. They reassigned him to SC which is out of the subpoena jurisdiction of the USCCR and told him to ignore the original subpoena, it looks like he’s tripping them up anyway.

[Anti-Bubba182]

Kudos to Coats.

[Buckhead]

It seems highly likely this is a direct result of the the disclosure of the emails described in the privilege log obtained by Judicial Watch. Coates’ testimony has been stuck for months if not more than a year. But he comes forward only a few days after they came out. Nothing really prevented him from doing this before except obedience to his superiors.

There is no longer even a fig leaf behind which DOJ can hide, and his duty to tell the truth and uphold the law clearly trumps whatever was holding him back.

DOJ may try some super fancy legal trick to keep him from testifying, but that’s a pretty tall order at this point.

This is a huge, huge deal.

[Crawdad]

This is a huge, huge deal.

I concur.

[Dubya-M-DeesWent2SyriaStupid!]

All’s people want is JUSTICE at the JUSTICE Dept.

Good for this man! I hope he does not het Walpined before he can testify.

[Red Steel]

Perez, Fernandes and Holder will not be happy, Coates will likely confirm they're liars.

2011 is going to be a year of much popcorn being eaten when the Obama administration gets splayed wide-open by all the Congressional investigation.

[nothingnew]

This is a huge, huge deal.As vp joe biteme would say..."This is a big effing deal!"

FMCDH(BITS)

[TChad]

Should make for an interesting Friday. Let’s hope Coates has some integrity.

[NonValueAdded]

Nothing really prevented him from doing this before except obedience to his superiors.

Or perhaps an understanding that there is a right to executive privilege - but not to the point of covering up a crime. The difference could be that there is now evidence of a crime in public view and therefore he is free to not obey an illegal order. Just a guess.

[SunkenCiv]

...career lawyer Christopher Coates has sent a letter to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights offering to testify Friday on matters related to the controversial New Black Panthers voter-intimidation case.

Thanks jazusamo. Apropos of nothing...

• U.S. Financial Bailout Chief Resigns (Herb Allison)
• FOX NEWS ALERT: Rahm leaving WH as early as next month
• Summers to leave White House post after midterm elections
• Obama [chief economic] Adviser Summers to Depart White House at Year's End
• Obama Administration Has Been An 'Academic Exercise'

[Bulldaddy]

Agreed.

[IncPen]

Another reason for Obama and Axelrod to unleash an October surprise.

I’m gonna say... summit with Iran.

Anyone?

[South40]

Coates should stay off airplanes and hire a bodyguard lest he wants to become the next Ron Brown.

[penelopesire]

Holder still thinks he can get away with it..especially if they can get it ‘settled’ while the dems are still in control. They are trying to push the case to a conclusion before all hell breaks lose.

[anniegetyourgun]

The Commission will say thanks...but, no thanks.

[HollyB]

That may have been the case if he was part of the Holder appointed staff. But, he's not. So, I think he's probably going to do the right thing. Some one with a conscience left.

[jazusamo]

I don’t think that’s likely. There’s eight members; 2 Dems, 2 Inds and 4 Repubs and 1 Repub is Abigail Thernstrom who has said this is no big deal. The other 3 Repubs and 2 Inds (really Repubs) are going to welcome this testimony.

[ROCKLOBSTER]

the Obama administration can’t stop him from testifying though he could lose his job over it.

Or...he could get dead.

[bert]

.....i am concerned you are correct.......

Me too. Otherwise the letter would be unpublished and his appearance would be a big surprise.

[jazusamo]

Or...he could get dead.

Sadly, that's a possibility and hopefully he realizes it.

[penelopesire]

So what happens if this commission finds illegal stuff that went on at the Justice department? Does it go to congress to strip folks of their jobs or to prosecute? Perhaps this is why this is happening all of a sudden. Holder wants this settled before a republican congress gets in power.

Just curious. Where does it go from here should the commission find wrongdoing?

[sunmars]

lets see which Obama press shill is the first to launch a dirtbomb at him.

Lay your bets now.

[Drill Thrawl]

If it makes news I guarantee the left will try to distract us with something.

And Obama knows that we can absord that something.

[Joan Kerrey]

I wonder when we’ll get the accident report and what kind of accident it will be. Hmmm, Washington DC? Maybe a mugging?

[sunmars]

more like accidentally walking into a group of black panthers who just happen to be sightseeing.

[DoughtyOne]

if I were Coates, I’d try to stay away from ominous multi-colored carpet fibers and zones in parks where people drift off the ground for 50 yards at a time.

[cripplecreek]

Screams of racism worked well enough last time this case threatened the president. The issue was starting to seep into the mainstream when the NAACP passed their useless resolution about tea party racism and that became all anybody wanted to talk about.

[Jemian]

If it makes news I guarantee the left will try to distract us with something.

Nuke Iran?
Get South Korea to invade North Korea?
Other?