MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN–During a filibuster-style radio interview in Milwaukee Friday, senior Republican Congressman James Sensenbrenner (Wisconsin) charged that the State of Texas as a whole had a tendency to discriminate against minority voters and should be placed back under Holder Justice Department supervision thanks to his proposed legislation.
After the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision to strike down Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act–a policy that held a number of southern states like Texas and other jurisdictions structurally discriminatory toward minorities until proven otherwise–Rep. Sensenbrenner vowed to revive the law.
When pressed to justify his desire to again empower the Justice Department, he labeled Texas and Georgia as prime examples of statewide, structural discrimination against minority voters.
“Texas and Georgia are the two worst,” Rep. Sensenbrenner argued. “Texas and Georgia haven’t gotten the message.”
Rep. Sensenbrenner’s assertion that Texas is one of the “worst” involves sporadic instances of counties or voting jurisdictions not having adequate supply of foreign language ballots for an election. Out of Texas’ 254 counties, only seven instances have occurred in 15 years. According to Rep. Sensenbrenner’s interview, such instances justify his labeling the entire state as being discriminatory.
Former Justice Department attorney and whistleblower J. Christian Adams broke down the harsh realities that would arise, should Rep. Sensenbrenner and the organized left pass his legislation.
“[Rep. Sensenbrenner’s] bill would empower corrupt leftist bureaucrats to manipulate or block state election integrity laws. The reason the left is so keen to have Mr. Sensenbrenner’s bill pass is because they know how partisan voting rights enforcement has become at DOJ. His bill will be used to help turn Texas blue if it passes. It will be used to erode the Constitutional balance of power the states have over their own elections.”
When pressed to address a recent interview with James O’Keefe at a constituent meeting about how his legislation would strip voter protections from white voters, Rep. Sensenbrenner echoed sentiments of O’Keefe’s progressive detractors.
“Mr. O’Keefe is very good at cutting and pasting. He is very good at putting up misleading stuff, he’s gotten in trouble repeatedly,” Sensenbrenner said.
Congressman Sensenbrenner’s proud alliance with progressive activists opposed to popular election integrity reforms like the American Civil Liberties Union and others draws a curious question when carefully reviewing the Wisconsin representative’s campaign donation receipts.
Einhorn Donation to Sensenbrenner 2012 by BreitbartTexas
On September 5, 2012, Rep. Sensenbrenner accepted a $1,000 general campaign contribution from Nancy Einhorn, President of the Einhorn Family Foundation in Milwaukee according to the Federal Election Commission (FEC). Around the same time, the Einhorn Foundation was investing in what was later admitted in the Grio and other progressive media outlets to an interstate campaign to warn voters across the Midwest of the federal penalties incurred, should they commit voter fraud. Rep. Sensenbrenner’s allies in the ACLU and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights under Law denounced the then-unknown Einhorn campaign as racist “attack[s] on Black and Latino voters.”
According to published FEC records, Congressman Sensenbrenner’s campaign did not reverse the Einhorn contribution upon confirming their involvement in the ad campaign. Ms. Einhorn has yet to renew her support for Rep. Sensenbrenner in the 2014 fundraising cycle, according to available records.
Congressman Sensenbrenner’s attempt to reinvigorate the Civil Rights Division of the Holder Justice Department continues amid a disturbing backdrop with the U.S. Senate’s stunning decision to block Obama appointee Debo Adegbile’s confirmation to enforce federal voting protections in the DOJ. Adegbile was rejected after Texas Senator Ted Cruz led an effort to block the nomination by reminding the nation of his past willingness to represent a convicted cop killer in the 1980s.
Follow Logan Churchwell on Twitter @LCChurchwell