It’s Not a Real Investigation, But It’s A Good Start
The Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility has begun an official inquiry into the dismissal in May of a civil complaint against the New Black Panther Party and two of its members who disrupted a Philadelphia polling place during the November general elections.
The inquiry is disclosed in an Aug. 28 letter to Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the ranking Republican on the House Judiciary Committee who first raised questions about the dismissal in May and asked unsuccessfully that Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. make available the head of the department’s Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division for a closed-door briefing on the decision.
With any luck, this will lead to a more formal investigation into Holder’s baffling decision to condone blatant voter intimidation. John Fund’s article is about the best summary of the case and you can get loads of background on the men Holder let off the hook from Quin Hillyer.
I am no fan of Eric Holder, who has proven he’s willing to sell his professional integrity down the river for political gain. I can’t imagine that he’s going to escape this investigation unscathed, however the prospect is not all that exciting. The OPR is an in-house affair and about the worst it can deliver is a slap on the wrist that’ll be forgotten in a couple weeks. A Congressional committee, on the other hand, can bring the hammer down if it finds that Holder acted improperly. That’s the investigation we really need.
Other Posts of Interest:
Category: Our New Democratic Overlords
