Rep. Ted Poe: Justice Department Review of Zimmerman Case an ‘Abuse of Power’

Conservative outlets have continued to spread the repeatedly debunked story that the Department of Justice had a role in the public demonstrations that followed the killing of Trayvon Martin, and the fallacious account has naturally been embraced by at least one House Republican.

In an interview with Lars Larson yesterday, Rep. Ted Poe (R-TX) called the DOJ’s review of the George Zimmerman case “a political decision based upon the prejudice of the Justice Department” and a move by the Obama administration to use “the Justice Department for its own political gain.”

“The call that the Justice Debarment, before the trial ever began, went to Florida and stirred up public support for the prosecution of Zimmerman; the Justice Department has no business ever doing that in any case,” Poe told Larson. But as Fox News reported, the DOJ only sent mediators whose responsibilities focused on “how to manage crowds and easing tensions” during the protests.

“The Justice Department has shown its bias, Eric Holder showed his bias when he talked about it; I call him Eric With-holder because he withholds so much information from Congress.”

The congressman lamented that Zimmerman may now “have to suffer the consequences of abuse of power by the United States Justice Department.”