Former Voting Section Chief Christopher Coates, who was transferred to a detail in South Carolina in the midst of a controversy over the New Black Panther voter intimidation case, is going to testify Friday morning before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, according to a source close to one of the commissioners.
Coates is described by several former officials in the section as an ally of former Civil Rights Division head Bradley Schlozman, who was found to have broken civil-service laws with his politicized hiring practices. Until now, the rumors that Coates had faced pressure over filing a Section 11(b) voter suppression case against the New Black Panther Party, which was narrowed during the Obama administration, were based on second-hand information from conservative activist and former voting section lawyer J. Christian Adams. His testimony will likely support accusations from conservative critics who say the voting section improperly narrowed the case.
The USSCR has been seeking Coates' testimony for some time, accusing the Justice Department of refusing to make him available. The Justice Department's inspector general recently opened a second investigation related to the narrowing of the New Black Panther case, which was already being investigated by the Office of Professional Responsibility. The IG's office said they would be looking into, in part "whether the Voting Section has enforced the civil rights laws in a non-discriminatory manner." The USCCR is set to release its report on the NBPP case soon, although a source tells me that they intend to re-characterize it along the lines of the IG's recently announced inquiry.
All in all, not a bad day's work for the conservative media. Their fixation on the NBPP case has managed to prompt three investigations related to a low-stakes voter-intimidation case in which no one claims to have actually been intimidated.
