DOJ Slimes Whistleblower Adams in Panthergate Case

Call it Panthergate, call it what you will. The Department of Justice (or its minions) is already attempting to slime its whistleblower J. Christian Adams — the attorney who recently resigned from the Department over its abandonment of the New Black Panther case.

Now Adams has struck back, telling Pajamas Media that the DOJ’s smears were a “blatant lie.”

Adams appeared on Megyn Kelly’s Fox News show to tell his story Tuesday, following which a “source familiar with the case” came forward, trying to tarnish the lawyer’s reputation. Pajamas Media was informed by a Fox producer:

The person said that any story should include the fact that Adams only left DOJ after being put into a job he disliked, and that he has long been an advocate of conservative views. Source also says Adams’ claims are “willfully inaccurate.”

This battle had been brewing for several days since Adams — using the Panther case as an example — asserted in the Washington Times, and then in more detail in Pajamas Media, that institutionalized bias had infiltrated Eric Holder’s Justice Department. Civil rights complaints would only be pursued when initiated by people of color against white people.

When it was the other way around, the complaints, even when well-substantiated as with the New Black Panthers, would disappear in a bureaucratic morass.

The attacks on Adams — whether from the “anonymous source” or from DOJ spokesperson Tracy Schmaler — were of surprising ferocity, indicating nervousness on the part of the Department.

Adams told Pajamas Media:

I was appalled and disappointed by the DOJ yesterday. They included a blatant lie in their response to my interview.  They told Fox News I had been “unhappy with my position.” Not only would this be a personnel matter they aren’t supposed to discuss, it’s a fairy tale. In fact on April 28 I got a promotion, so maybe they can let me know what position I was unhappy with.

…

The problem with smearing me is that there are many others who know the truth inside the Department. Documents which they refuse to turn over pursuant to subpoenas from the Civil Rights Commission prove it. Testimony from other DOJ employees, which they refuse to allow, would also prove it.

Indeed, there may be “others who know the truth,” and it will be interesting to see what emerges. If there is racial discrimination in the Department of Justice, that is something we should all know about, so that it can be corrected as quickly as possible.

Pajamas Media and PJTV will be posting more information about this in the days to come. Watch this space and PJTV for more, including awards and promotions given Adams — the man whose reputation the Department is now attempting to tarnish — by the very DOJ only months ago.

If this were another administration — no doubt if this were the Bush administration — a veritable army of reporters would be assigned to this story with visions of Pulitzers dancing in their heads.

But given our current media environment, this is the kind of potential scandal that could easily be swept under the rug.

Pajamas Media will continue to work with Chris Adams to get his story out. He will have more details for us next Tuesday, after his scheduled testimony before the United States Commission on Civil Rights.