A Partisan DOJ?

For John, BLUF:  I keep saying that with Former A/G Eric Holder gone the DOJ is doing good, but they keep fighting me on this.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I feel sympathy for the Federal U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC).  Their lawyer in Federal Court (in this case the District of Columbia Federal District Court and Judge Richard J. Leon) is the DOJ Federal Programs Branch.  I have been represented by a Government agency that did not, in my humble opinion, fight for our position.

But this case is especially egregious.  The Federal Programs Branch web site says:

They defend against constitutional challenges to federal statutes, suits to overturn government policies and programs, and attacks on the legality of government decisions.

So, you would think the Federal Programs Branch would be backing the position of the EAC, but alas, they rolled to the plaintiffs in a case involving the EAC approval "to allow Kansas, Georgia, Alabama, and Arizona to enforce their proof-of-citizenship voter-registration requirement."  Not only did DOJ refuse to defend the EAC, a Federal Agency, it told the EAC it could not hire its own lawyer to defend its position.

This is reported in The National Interest by Mr Hans A von Spakovsky in an article headlined "An Extraordinary Beat-Down for the DOJ".

So, Mr Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, from the nation of Georgia, an immigrant not yet a US Citizen, can register to vote, and vote, under the theory of the League of Women Voters and several other organizations.

Mr Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili!  A man who killed millions!

Well, not Mr Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili, since he is dead, except he could vote in Chicago.

We did get to Godwin's Law in the courtroom.

It was clear that this hearing did not go the way the plaintiffs’ lawyers and DOJ had tried to arrange it to go.  They thought the fix was in.  In fact, it went so badly, particularly with DOJ being called on the carpet by Judge Leon, that at the end when the plaintiffs’ lawyer got up to try to repair all the holes that Kobach had knocked in their case, the lawyer tried to compare the EAC action to Nazi Germany.  He waved the EAC opinion at issue in the air and said “this is what Nazis do behind closed doors!”  You know a lawyer is desperate when he tries to equate a dispute over an election administration issue to Nazi Germany.

I checked the District Court website this morning and a ruling has not yet been posted.

Imagine what Mr Mel Brooks could do with this material.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff