Just Another Brick In The Stonewall

Cracks are showing in the Obama/Holder Black Panther stonewall.

The Justice Department still hasn't explained its decision to drop most of its voter-intimidation case against violent Black Panthers 18 months ago. If the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights finally adopts its report on the controversy, the great lengths Justice officials have taken to avoid scrutiny will be exposed.

As the draft comes up for a vote on Friday, new findings from a Judicial Watch lawsuit will further eviscerate the lame excuses Justice has offered. Even in heavily redacted form, department e-mails unearthed last week show top political appointees not just vaguely reviewing and approving the decision to drop most of the case, but actually directing and editing court filings.

This contradicts the department's official story that the decisions were made by career attorneys who merely secured pro-forma approval from political superiors. The political interference alleged by Judicial Watch is part of a larger pattern. Much of the information included in the Civil Rights Commission draft - some of it first unearthed by The Washington Times - details evidence of a broader politicization of the Justice Department.