Fernandes european junket and hill trips spiked

Sources provide a bit more about why the secret brown bag lunch of Deputy Assistant Attorney General Julie Fernandes might be so secret.  It seems some within the administration view both Fernandes and Assistant Attorney General Tom Perez as radioactive.  Firstly, Fernandes and Perez were slated to go on a European junket to a civil rights conference together.  Someone higher up wisely pulled the plug on the trip not wanting to draw attention to the controversy swirling around the two.  Secondly, Fernandes hasn’t been let near Capitol Hill.  Customarily, Deputy Assistant Attorneys General would brief Congressman and Senators on election related issues.  DOJ has been sending up other employees who are not overseeing voting issues instead of Fernandes to brief Congressmen and Senators about elections.  Now we know why the lunch might have been so secret – the DOJ doesn’t want to let Fernandes out of the bag.