Yesterday, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, published a letter to President Obama calling for a special investigation into the Department of Justice decision to dismiss the voter intimidation case again the New Black Panther Party. Based on testimony of J. Christian Adams, the former Department of Justice attorney who worked on the New Black Panther case, Smith is concerned that "the Department has adopted a policy of enforcing voting rights laws in a racially discriminatory manner."

Discussing the possibility that "the Justice Department has become politicized," Smith writes:

[B]y not fully prosecuting the [New Black Panthers], the Justice Department has sent the message that intimidation of white voters is acceptable. In fact, that appears to be the stated policy of the Department's Civil Rights Division...Adams testified under oath that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes, one of your political appointees, instructed Voting Section attorneys that "cases are not going to be brought against black defendants [for] the benefit of white victims" and "that if someone wanted to bring these cases, it was up to the U.S. Attorney, but the Civil Rights Division wasn't going to be bringing [them]."

When asked if Fernandes gave this order, a Department spokesperson referred the Washington Examiner to a DOJ statement on this case, which reads, in part: "The Department makes enforcement decisions based on the merits, not the race, gender or ethnicity of any party involved."

Maybe the special counsel requested by Rep. Smith will get better answers.