In his testimony before the Civil Rights Commission, Adams stated that his accusations could be corroborated by Christopher Coates,[1] the former head of the voting section of the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division who had led the original investigation of the New Black Panther Party.[47] The Department refused to allow Coates to testify.[11] In September 2010, Coates was granted whistleblower protection and testified before the Civil Rights Commission in defiance of his supervisors' instructions.[48]