In a letter to Republican Congressman Frank Wolf dated Oct. 15, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich justified the Justice Department's decision to prevent former Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates from testifying before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission in relation to the New Black Panther Party voter-intimidation case.
Weich assured Wolf that the Department would "not take any action that would be inconsistent with federal whistleblower protections," but wrote that Coates was barred from testifying because of a "longstanding policy against disclosures of internal recommendations and deliberations, particularly those related to prosecutorial decisions." Coates, an ally of disgraced former Civil Rights Division head Bradley Schlozman, recently testified that the Civil Rights Divison was hostile to "race-neutral enforcement" of civil-rights laws.
Weich did not attack Coates directly, but he disputed Coates' characterization of the Civil Rights Division, saying that the Department of Justice "is firmly committed to the fair vigorous, and evenhanded enforcement of all the civil rights laws within its authority, including federal laws protecting the right to vote. ... The Department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the race, gender, ethnicity of any party involved." Here's the relevant portion:
This, of course, changes nothing. What happens in this case does not hinge on the merits of the accusations; it hinges on a Republican takeover of Congress. Whether this dies quietly or drags on for months longer depends on which party controls the relevant oversight committees.
