Senator Patrick Leahy is pouring cold water on a request by GOP Senators for public hearings into the Black Panther voter intimidation case, a move that will anger conservatives who were hoping for a public airing of the issue to prove the Obama administration is riddled with anti-white discrimination.

In a sharply-worded letter responding to the request for hearings from Senator Jeff Sessions, the ranking GOPer on the Judiciary Committee, Leahy told Sessions that the accusations are fueled by partisanship and conservative media and appear to have no merit, and that further hearings would interfere with the multiple inquiries that are already underway. Leahy chairs the committee.

A source sends over a copy of the letter. Conservatives have argued that the Obama Justice Department improperly narrowed the case