Today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice, responded to a new report issued by the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Justice on the Voting Rights Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division from 2001-2011.  The 258-page report covers the activities of the Section during the Bush Administration and the first two years of the Obama Administration.     

“This report confirms that – under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez – the Administration has restored professionalism, integrity, and transparency to the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division,” said Nadler.  “There is no question that the Administration inherited a Section in crisis and a workforce that was reeling from the well-documented misconduct of political appointees who – from 2003 through 2007 – made personnel and hiring decisions in an aggressive effort to pack the Section with employees who shared their political ideology.”

Nadler issued the following statement:

“This report confirms that – under the leadership of Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez – the Administration has restored professionalism, integrity, and transparency to the Voting Rights Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.  There is no question that the Administration inherited a Section in crisis and a workforce that was reeling from the well-documented misconduct of political appointees who – from 2003 through 2007 – made personnel and hiring decisions in an aggressive effort to pack the Section with employees who shared their political ideology.  The incidents of workplace misconduct and harassment recounted in the report that took place during this time are troubling and intolerable in any workplace.  But, as this report confirms, reforms have been put in place to ensure that these are problems of the past. 

“Since Assistant Attorney General Perez took the helm, none of the decisions regarding enforcement of this nation’s voting rights laws have been based on racial or partisan political considerations.  The numerous reforms to address politicized hiring and personnel practices that have been put in place by this Administration are working, and politics and ideology no longer have any place in the hiring of individuals entrusted with enforcing our nation’s civil rights laws.  Efforts to restore a workplace culture of respect, collegiality, and professionalism are unquestionably ongoing but appear to have taken hold.”

With particular regard to the New Black Panther Party case, now investigated in this Inspector General Report, as well as a prior Office of Professional Responsibility Report, Nadler further commented:

“We have now spent six years investigating baseless allegations that decisions made in the New Black Panther Party case were racially or politically motivated.  The decision makers in that case were career lawyers with a combined 60 years of litigation experience.  As the Office of Personnel Management and Inspector General both found, their decisions were based on the facts and law, nothing else.  Any claim that this case needs further investigation should be flatly rejected.

“I am dismayed that, in the wake of a report rejecting allegations of politicized decision making by this Administration, some of my colleagues are still demanding that we devote even more time and money investigating allegations that have now been investigated and debunked twice.  There should be no third bite at this apple.  It is long past time to turn the page on this unfortunate chapter.  This Administration is addressing the wrongs in the Voting Rights Section and it is now time to allow our Justice Department to devote its full time and energy to enforcing this nation’s laws.”

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