Why won’t the Justice Department let Christopher Coates testify on New Black Panther Party case?

Adams continued, “I was told by Voting Section management that cases are not going to be brought against black defendants for the benefit of white victims, that if somebody wanted to bring these cases it was up to the U.S. Attorney, but the Civil Rights Division wasn’t going to be bringing it. If Mr. Coates were allowed to testify and tell the truth, then you would hear that these instructions were given.”

Another commissioner on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Gail Heriot, told TheDC that Coates’ testimony is central to not only the New Black Panther Party case but also to revealing any corruption that may exist within the DOJ.

“The bottom line is that nobody is in better position than Christopher Coates to help the Commission determine whether there is in fact a culture of hostility toward the race-neutral application of the law in the Civil Rights Division,” she said.

Kirsanow agreed, saying, “Christopher Coates is the guy who saw everything, who heard everything, he is the center focus of everything related to New Black Panther, and everything related to whether or not the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ enforces civil rights laws in a racially discriminatory manner.”

In a piece published at Pajamas Media, Adams elaborated on Coates’ importance. “Of course, the outstanding subpoena of former voting section chief Christopher Coates hangs over the DOJ like the Sword of Damocles,” He writes. “Anyone who has spoken with Coates over the last few years knows exactly what his testimony will be. Anyone who has read his going-away speech to the entire voting section knows exactly what his testimony would be. And anyone familiar with the unimpeachable reputation of Coates knows his testimony will silence the phony personal attacks and move the discussion to where it belongs — how to fix things. Additional corroboration to my testimony, which Coates would provide, cannot be concealed forever.”

“If what Adams said is true, we will issue our report and our findings and our recommendations and I would encourage the Obama administration to clean up its own mess and if it refused to I would ask that the Congress clean up the mess,” Reynolds said. “But at this point, we don’t know if we have a mess. We have not heard from Coates.”

The Civil Rights Division of the DOJ declined to allow TheDC to speak with Christopher Coates.

E-mail Caroline May and follow her on Twitter

WATCH: IS W.H. DROPPING THE BALL ON NEW BLACK PANTHER CASE?