The Washington Times reports the 15-14 vote that took place today on the House Judiciary Committee, blocking a Republican attempt to get answers about why the Justice Department dropped charges against members of the Black Panther Party who had been caught on tape in the act of voter intimidation.
Frank Wolf, R-Va., was particularly incensed:
Mr. Wolf, ranking Republican on the House Appropriations subcommittee on commerce, justice, science and related agencies that funds the Justice Department, also said that while the Justice Department is claiming broad privileges to avoid disclosing any new information regarding the case, many legal scholars have challenged the department’s assertions of privilege. He said the committee’s failure to approve his resolution had set a “troubling precedent.”
“Is it going to continue to blindly defer to all unsubstantiated claims of privilege from the department?” he asked. “The Justice Department has gone as far as to claim privilege and redact seven pages of a letter I sent to the attorney general and released publicly on July 31, 2009.
