DOJ Rejects Charges Against Role of GOP Strategist in Census Citizenship Issue

The Department of Justice attempted on Monday to rebut new allegations that a GOP restructuring officer would have played an important role in obtaining a citizenship question at the 2020 census, calling for applications. false and unfounded.

In a new legal proceeding, DOJ lawyers have reprimanded the accusations made against Trump administration officials of attempting to conceal the role played by the late GOP agent Thomas Hofeller in the addition of the citizenship issue.

"The motion is frivolous, and appears to be an attempt to reopen the evidence in this already closed case and lead this Court into the eleventh-hour plaintiffs' campaign to unduly derail the resolution of the appeal. of the government by the Supreme Court "filed in federal court in New York lit.

The ACLU on Friday dropped what appeared to be a bomb case, alleging that Hofeller had conducted a study in 2015 that asking questions about citizenship in the census would help Republicans and would hurt Latinos and Democrats by redistributing . And the group claimed that officials did not reveal the role played by Hofeller in adding the question to the census.

In his new file, the DOJ stated, contrary to the ACLU's claims, that the group had no evidence that the Justice Department official, John Gore, "ever read, received, or was aware of the existence of this unpublished study "or that he knew when to write an agency letter in favor of the issue of citizenship.

And they rejected the assertion that a text drafted by Hofeller would have been included in administrative documents promoting the issue.

"There is no smoking gun here; only smoke and mirrors, "says the document.

Justice Department lawyers also countered that Gore and Mark Neuman, who had advised the Commerce Department on the issue of citizenship, did not reveal Hofeller's role in the case. They claimed that the two men were never directly asked questions that would have led them to discuss Hofeller's alleged involvement.

They wrote that Gore's "lack of testimony" about receiving a draft letter from Neuman promoting the creation of the question, and that Neuman does not share this information during his own testimony, "is therefore attributable to insufficient questioning of the applicants' testimony ".

The Department of Justice further argued that it was too late to add any evidence to the ongoing litigation surrounding the issue, since the case has since been filed in a district court in New York and is currently under consideration by the Supreme Court.

And they said that the heart of the legal question is whether the Secretary of Commerce Wilbur RossWilbur Louis RossNew evidence implicates a census-related citizenship case Florida Senators Seek Federal Support Due to Red Tide ACLU Submits Supreme Court Opinion on New Evidence Related to the Issue Census Citizenship PLUS, who officially oversaw the addition of the question, had "an objectively rational basis for his decision to re-establish the citizenship issue".

"Nothing in the private records of a deceased political officer can affect the resolution of this problem," says the file.

The court's document also states that the 2015 Hofeller study did not reveal that asking questions about citizenship would have an impact on redistricting, but rather than basing constituencies on the voting age population. would have the resulting effect.

"The Department of Justice takes allegations of false testimony very seriously. For the reasons set out above and in the attached tables, the plaintiffs' accusations are unfounded, "reads Monday's file. "The complainants had an obligation to conduct a pre-complaint investigation before launching such arson charges, particularly against a senior DOJ official.

The Hill solicited comments from the ACLU. Both parties to the case are scheduled to appear Wednesday before a federal judge, who will determine whether to impose sanctions on the Trump administration for the new allegations.

The debate over the addition of the issue of citizenship to the 2020 census has engulfed both Congress and the courts.

Three federal judges disagreed, but the Conservative majority of the Supreme Court seems ready to allow its inclusion in the decennial census.

And shortly before the filing of the complaint by the Department of Justice, the Chair of the House Oversight and Reform Committee Elijah CummingsElijah Eugene CummingsCummings accuses the Ministry of Education of stalling the investigation over an attempt to eliminate the internal watchdog On The Money: US Banks See Profits Rise | Pelosi & # 39; optimistic & # 39; on the infrastructure contract with Trump | Former Black Caucus members exert their influence on K Street Former Black Caucus Congress members exert their influence on K Street PLUS (D-Md.) Announced that his panel will vote to hold Ross and the Attorney General William BarrWilliam Pelham BarrManchin Strikes Barr: He Should Focus On Protecting The Warner Constitution: "The height of irresponsibility": Congress has not improved election security Clear leaders emerged in the group democrat MORE in contempt for failing to comply with the subpoenas issued by Congress as part of an inquiry into the issue of citizenship.

Cummings gave the officials until Thursday to hand over certain documents relating to the census survey, including those regarding the alleged involvement of Hofeller, before continuing the contempt votes.

A spokesman for the Commerce Department said in a statement that the threat of condemning Ross to scorn was an attempt to "desperately and abusively influence the Supreme Court with mere insinuations and conspiracy theories".