Putting aside the fact video exists of the armed uniformed thugs in Philadelphia, Holder did something even worse than flirt with kooky conspiratorial characterizations of the fallout from the Black Panther dismissal.  When Holder announced to the New York Times that there “is no there there,” he let the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) know what he believes the outcome of their ongoing investigation into the dismissal should be.   In other words, he tampered with their investigation.

Holder’s close friend Deputy Attorney General James Cole will have the power to veto any critical conclusions by OPR.

Multiple attorneys, including me, have testified under oath that the Obama Civil Rights Division will not enforce civil rights laws in a race-neutral fashion.  Numerous attorneys still at the Justice Department have confirmed the substance of our testimony to the Washington Post. Numerous other attorneys no longer at the Justice Department have also confirmed our testimony.

Holder’s response to the New York Times?  It’s a “made up controversy.”

Holder’s performance to the New York Times is more than simply ludicrous, it is meddlesome.  When Holder made these partisan campaign-style attacks, he meddled with two ongoing investigations in a way that previous Attorney Generals would never do.

The DOJ OPR is currently investigating whether or not Steve Rosenbaum, Loretta King, and other DOJ political appointees used improper considerations when they ordered the dismissal of the New Black Panther case.  The problem is that Eric Holder sits atop the chain of command for every OPR attorney working on the investigation.  Eric Holder, and his newly recess-appointed Deputy Attorney General James Cole, oversee OPR.  They have the power to fire, and as was recently exercised, hire the head of OPR.  The incoming head of OPR, Robin Ashton, was just named by Holder.  Ashton will have the power to tamper with any findings in the New Black Panther investigation, and bring them more in line with Eric Holder’s pronouncements to the New York Times.

When Holder made wild assertions about the dismissal of the New Black Panther case to the New York Times, you can be sure every single person working down the chain of command on the investigation took note.  For them to reach a finding contrary to Holder’s statements guarantees a bureaucratic headwind from the highest levels of the DOJ.  That’s a career killer inside Justice.  Few can be expected to have the courage to confront the falsehoods of an Attorney General from within the bureaucracy.  There aren’t many with the courage of DOJ lawyer Christopher Coates.

The DOJ Inspector General is also investigating the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of the New Black Panther case and hostility toward racially equal enforcement of civil rights laws under Eric Holder.  I have already given lengthy interviews with the IG about this hostility, as have many others.

Yet Eric Holder has announced his opinion of the investigation in the interview.  The IG is just looking into “a made up controversy,” he says.

America might soon long for the good old days of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.  When the DOJ OPR and IG were investigating conduct during his tenure, he had the sense and integrity to withhold comment.  Instead of telegraphing his views to the investigative authorities as Holder did, Gonzales made it clear it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment while an investigation was ongoing.

Holder doesn’t care even about the appearance of impropriety.  He plainly let the investigators inside OPR and the IG know what he thinks they should conclude.

Worse, Holder almost taunts the majority of Americans who believe men wielding weapons at the entrance to a poll and hurling racial slurs is a serious matter, no matter the race of the perpetrators.  All “made up,” he shockingly concludes, providing sanctuary to armed thugs from the highest levels of our government.

Last week,  the Inspector General of the Department of Justice released a “Review of Department of Justice Grants to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, Inc. (ACORN) and its Affiliated Organizations.”  Unsurprisingly this report “did not find any DOJ direct grants to ACORN.”  The report did however reveal approximately $200,000 in sub-grants to ACORN affiliates.  This number pales in comparison to the amount of federal money ACORN and its affiliates have received from other agencies.

ACORN and its affiliates have received over $54 million in federal grants from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).  These are the grants that the government should be investigating.  How did ACORN spend these federal tax dollars?  Were they used for their designated purposes?  Does ACORN owe the federal government a refund?

The Department of Justice should have answered calls to investigate ACORN’s criminal and fraudulent activity.  The evidence continues to mount, and the Department of Justice continues to look the other way.

Last week Representative Vernon Ehlers, along with Reps. Mary Bono and Connie Mack, introduced House Resolution 911, a resolution “Requesting the Attorney General to appoint a special counsel to investigate allegations regarding the organization ACORN.”  The resolution calls on Attorney General Holder to appoint a special counsel because:

“Whereas there has not been a cohesive approach to investigating these allegations;

“Whereas a special counsel should be appointed to investigate, in a cohesive manner, the allegations that Federal monies are possibly being used illegally by ACORN or any of its affiliates, both formal and informal, including all subsidiaries and entities controlled by ACORN;

“Whereas a special counsel should also investigate ACORN’s relationship with all allied organizations and any individual or organization that has been complicit in the criminal activity of ACORN and its employees;”

Representative Ehlers is right; it’s time that the Obama administration takes a serious look into ACORN and the mounting evidence of its wrongdoing.  Sadly, the failure to investigate ACORN has not been limited to the Obama Administration.

Representatives John Conyers and Jerry Nadler have failed to launch Congressional hearings into ACORN.  Conyers has noted that “the powers that be” won’t allow them.

Even ACORN’s “internal investigation” has yet to yield any results.  When ACORN’s “Independent” Advisory Council appointed former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger to conduct an internal review he promised preliminary findings by the end of October.  As we near the end of November ACORN has yet to publically release any information regarding Harshbarger’s findings, yet this has not stopped them from carrying on their business as usual.  Republican National Lawyers Association (RNLA) Chairman David A. Norcross has called on ACORN “to announce their findings and produce meaningful answers into the issues raised by the ACORN 8, speak to the consequences of the Rathke embezzlement, including its cover up, and address the money laundering that has taken place at its affiliates.”

Rather than addressing the many flaws of the organization, ACORN is instead choosing to attack those who dared to expose them.  Hannah Giles, James O’Keefe, and Andrew Breitbart have been sued for exposing ACORN employees counseling individuals on how to evade IRS regulations and engage in criminal activity.  ACORN whistleblower Anita MonCrief has also been sued by ACORN.  They haven’t stopped there.  ACORN has sued the Pennsylvania Attorney General in an attempt to justify and defend its criminal activity, and most recently ACORN has sued the federal government demanding access to federal funds.  ACORN should address its systemic internal problems before attempting to blame and punish others.

While it is comforting that the Department of Justice has not made any “direct grants” to ACORN, it’s time that Justice mounts a real investigation of this troubled organization.