Why did Maryland GOP leaders endorse Thomas Perez to head US Justice Department division?

Update July 23rd: More on why the Kanes might be soft on illegal immigration at Blue Ridge Forum, here.

Update: Lots more on Perez here.

This post will likely contain more questions then answers and I wouldn’t even be writing it today if it hadn’t been for the fact that Bob Ehrlich, a Republican primary candidate for governor of Maryland,  picked Mary Kane for his running mate.  That decision has opened a can of very slimy worms.

Seemingly within hours of the announcement the Maryland Democratic Party pounced on Mary’s husband John Kane’s legal problems that now involve the US Justice Department.   See my post Saturday here, and note the biggest shocker of all—Kane, former chairman of the Maryland GOP, wrote a chummy letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the appointment of Thomas Perez, Labor Secretary in the O’Malley administration and former Casa de Maryland Board Member (some reports say Perez was Chairman of the board!), to head the Civil Rights Division in the Obama Justice Department.

For new readers and others not following the open borders movement in Maryland, Casa de Maryland is partially funded by taxpayers and is the chief proponent of amnesty for illegal aliens in Maryland, indeed in the US.

First question:  surely in his capacity as O’Malley’s Labor Secretary, Thomas Perez would have known the details of the Kane family legal problems, right?  Who sent the case information immediately to the Democratic Party after Ehrlich’s announcement on July 1?  Then here is another question for serious investigators that jumps immediately to mind, who brought the original case in 2007, was it an immigrant laborer who claimed that Kane played fast and loose with wages?  Indeed I suppose there was a possibility that Kane was set up?  Do the Democrats now have Ehrlich and Kane by the short hairs?  All important questions for another day.  Today I only have one major question.

Before I get to my original question, let’s go back to Perez for a moment.   Thomas Perez has a lengthy biography that appears to offer just what this White House wanted in the person to head the Civil Rights branch at Justice.  Notice however that Perez’s affiliation with Casa de Maryland has been removed from his bio, here.  In fact, because of that connection Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation says that Perez should recuse himself from any issue involving immigration at the Justice Department.

Obama’s political appointee, Thomas Perez, has an obvious conflict of interest that prevents him from providing objective advice to the President and the Attorney General on any issue involving illegal aliens. Prior to his nomination to Justice, Perez served as the president of Casa de Maryland, an extreme advocacy organization that opposes enforcement of our immigration laws.

Not only is he not recusing himself, he is deep in the middle of the decision to sue Arizona over its recent passage of a bill to control illegal immigration in that state.    An Arizona-like bill will be considered in Maryland during the next legislative session.

Perez has also been connected to the recent New Black Panthers case dismissal that is making headlines.

So, you have the picture, for Tea Partiers and conservatives generally Thomas Perez is very bad news!

In fact, US Senator Jeff Sessions raised his concerns about Perez’s affiliation with Casa during Senate confirmation hearings.  The left-leaning American Prospect, calling Perez “a progressive’s dream appointment,” offered this explanation as one of the reasons why Perez’s nomination had been held up for 6 months.

Senate Republicans have also expressed concern about Perez’s affiliation with what they see as “radical groups” — namely CASA de Maryland, whose work on behalf of immigrants is seen by conservatives as controversial. During Perez’s Senate hearings, Sen. Jeff Sessions accused the group of “promoting illegal immigration” because they published a pamphlet informing undocumented immigrants about their legal rights if they are caught in an immigration raid.

O.K. so we have US Senator Jeff Sessions, one of several Senate Republicans making a valiant effort to hold up the “progressives dream appointment”  of Thomas Perez,  and lo and behold, along comes John Kane, former chairman of the MD GOP and none-other than Minority leader of the Maryland House of Delegates, Tony O’Donnell (here), sending glowing letters to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of Perez. Did Sessions feel double-crossed by his own fellow Republicans? I don’t know the answer to that, but I would have.

Our colleague Richard Falknor, Blue Ridge Forum, reported all this last fall, but readers (including me) didn’t pay much attention to the issue until now, when former Governor (and would-be) nominee for governor this year, Bob Ehrlich, picked Mary Kane (a friend of Perez judging by the tone of  her husband’s letter) to be his running mate.

So now, here is the big question:

What could Mr. O’Donnell and Mr. Kane hope to gain for the Maryland GOP or for their own policy objectives by supporting Mr. Perez?***

Until I get a plausible explanation from Kane and O’Donnell, all of this indicates to me that the Maryland Republican establishment is too entangled with open borders advocates like Perez (and Obama),  and that Ehrlich (if he can even get elected in light of the Kane mess) will never be strong on immigration issues and Maryland will continue its dubious distinction as a sanctuary state.

*** If you know the answer, please comment to this post or write to me privately, Ann@vigilantfreedom.com

Off topic (sort of), but it’s something I’ve been pondering.  Do you remember when Republicans were about to choose John McCain as our candidate for President and some commentators (I remember Rush Limbaugh saying this repeatedly) said that the Democrats and the Democratic controlled media helped select our candidate because they knew who they wanted to run against?  And, even if he won, he (McCain) would be a manageable President from their perspective because he wasn’t very different than some Democrats.  I’ve wondered if the same strategy is being applied here in Maryland—Governor Bob is an easy mark and even if he should slip into office, he would be controllable.