Main Justice reports that Christopher Coates, head of the Justice Department's voting rights division, has been removed from his post and replaced.But no, the administration isn't doing damage control after it mysteriously dropped voter intimidation charges against three members of the Black Panther Party who rather openly intimidated Philadelphia voters on Election Day 2008. Rather, the administration is getting rid of the official who initiated the charges:
Coates signed off on the controversial voter intimidation complaint against the New Black Panther Party and three of its members, filed in the waning days of the George W. Bush administration. The Obama DOJ's decision to dismiss most of the charges in May has become a political controversy for the administration.Coates is among those who were subpoenaed to testify about the Black Panther controversy before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights.