Subject: Re: Chris Coons, Up For Reelection, Caves To Pressure On Civil Rights Nominee
From: "Molly Magarik" <[email-masked]>
To: "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>
Cc: "Alexander S. Mackler" <[email-masked]>, "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 6 Mar 2014 13:58:32 -0500

It's getting some local, blog coverage:

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/firststatepolitics/2014/03/06/coons-criticizes-obama/6119357/

http://www.delawareliberal.net/2014/03/06/chris-coons-is-a-coward/

On Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 2:47 PM, Eric Schwerin
<[email-masked]>wrote:

> So, I didn't realize he voted "for" the nominee in Committee and "against"
> on the Senate floor!!   And he admits the nominee was qualified!!
>
>
>
> Eric D. Schwerin
> Rosemont Seneca Partners, LLC
> 1010 Wisconsin Ave., NW
> Suite 705
> Washington, DC 20007
> (202) 333-1880
> [email-masked]
> *P* *Consider the environment before printing this email.*
>
>
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/chris-coons-debo-adegbile_n_4905241.html
>
> Chris Coons, Up For Reelection, Caves To Pressure On Civil Rights Nominee
>  [image: Sen. Chris Coons voted to block Debo Adegbile's nomination to
> head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. (Photo by Alex
> Wong/Getty Images)]
>
> WASHINGTON -- Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) says he helped block Debo
> Adegbile's nomination to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/05/debo-adegbile-nomination_n_4904510.html>in part because law enforcement groups were vocal in their opposition to
> Adegbile. The nominee had helped represent Mumia Abu-Jabal, convicted of
> murdering a police officer 30 years ago, in post-sentencing efforts.
>
> Coons, who is up for reelection this year, said in a statement Wednesday
> that Adegbile would have been "an asset to the Justice Department." But the
> senator was "troubled" by the idea of voting for the nominee "who would
> face such visceral opposition from law enforcement on his first day on the
> job" at a time when Coons thinks the Civil Rights Division needs a better
> relationship with police.
>
> The Special Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division, often with
> the support of local elected officials, has worked to institute reforms<http://www.justice.gov/crt/about/spl/findsettle.php#police>in many police departments across the country.
>
> Coons' vote to block Adegbile's nomination on Wednesday was especially
> surprising, given that as a member of the Judiciary Committee, he had voted
> to move that nomination to the Senate floor. Coons said that he believed
> the nomination "should be debated and considered by the full Senate" and
> called his final vote "one of the most difficult I have taken since joining
> the Senate."
>
> A spokesman for Coons declined to make him available for an interview or
> to say whether Coons had worked with Adegbile in Adegbile's current role as
> senior counsel for the Judiciary Committee.
>
> In his statement, Coons suggested that the efforts of others, not
> Adegbile, to make Abu-Jamal into somewhat of a celebrity influenced his
> decision to vote against the nomination.
>
> "The decades-long public campaign by others, however, to elevate a
> heinous, cold-blooded killer to the status of a political prisoner and folk
> hero has caused tremendous pain to the widow of Philadelphia police officer
> Daniel Faulkner and shown great disrespect for law enforcement officers and
> families throughout our region," Coons said. "These factors have led me to
> cast a vote today that is more about listening to and respecting their
> concerns than about the innate qualifications of this nominee."
>