Administration accused of voter intimidation cover-up

Congressman on dismissed case: 'President's political allies getting free pass' Posted: August 01, 2009 - 12:40 am Eastern By Drew Zahn © 2009 WorldNetDaily Six months after the election, voter intimidation charges against members of the New Black Panther Party in Pennsylvania were dismissed by the Department of Justice, and this week, some lawmakers are demanding the administration answer why. As WND reported, the government filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Philadelphia in January, alleging that NBPP members Samir Shabazz and Jerry Jackson stood outside a Philadelphia polling place in uniform, with Shabazz brandishing a nightstick-like weapon. Reports from the scene also say the pair issued racial threats and insults, and a GOP election monitor said he called police after being told that the men were there to make sure a "black" wins. Furthermore, the government lawsuit alleged the NBPP – a black extremist party whose leaders are notorious for their racist statements and anti-white activism – actually urged similar behavior nationwide with a notice that more than 300 members would be deployed at polling places. Four months after the complaint was filed, however, even after the government had won a default judgment against the NBPP since the group neither responded to the lawsuit nor appeared in court, the attorneys who brought the charges were told by their superiors to seek a delay in the case. Following the delay, the Washington Times reports, two Obama political appointees recommended the case be dropped. The charges were then dismissed and the default judgment discarded, though Shabazz was slapped with an injunction prohibiting him from displaying a weapon at a polling place until 2012. Four days later, Jackson was named an official election poll watcher for the Democratic primary in Philadelphia's municipal election. Yesterday, however, the story took on new life when two House Republicans reasserted their demands that that civil charges against the New Black Panther Party be restored and that the congressmen be allowed to interview career attorneys who disagreed with the administration's decision to dismiss the case. According to an editorial in the Times, the Justice Department has been "caught" covering up voter intimidation. [CONTINUE READING THIS STORY]

Video of the NBPP members standing outside a polling place in uniform, with Shabazz brandishing his nightstick-like club, was captured by a student on Election Day and can be seen below: