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Attorney General William P. Barr testifies before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary in Washington on May 1, 2019. The House Oversight Committee could vote against him for contempt of court in a dispute with his agency over the efforts of the court. Trump administration to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census. (Susan Walsh / AP)
Colby Itkowitz
Congress, Campaigns, Health Policy, Pennsylvania Policy
The Department of Justice has denied an order from House Committee Chairs requesting more documents on the decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, while ensuring that the House holds Attorney General William P. Barr contempt of Congress.
In a letter to the Chair of the Oversight Committee, Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Thursday, Deputy Attorney General Stephen Boyd stated that the agency had attempted to reconcile the commission and had described the vote on contempt of the ministry as "premature". refusal to comply with this request.
The Department of Justice has stated that some documents that democrats have summoned to appear are protected by solicitor-client privilege and therefore can not be disclosed. Cummings had given to the agency until 5 pm. Thursday to produce them or he would plan a vote to hold Barr in contempt.
The panel also summoned Assistant Deputy Attorney General John Gore to appear and asked the Department of Commerce to provide documents on the same subject. Cummings announced that the committee would also vote to have Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross considered contempt.
Several weeks ago, the Judiciary Committee of the House voted to condemn Barr in defiance of the refusal to publish the report of the special council, Robert S. Mueller III, in its entirety and without redaction.
Boyd wrote that the department had already provided the committee with 17,000 pages of documents and made witnesses available to the public.
The census question is the subject of one of the many investigations by Speaker Trump and his administration by House Democrats. The White House has said it will not comply with Demo's subpoenas.
Democrats have accused the administration of adding the issue of citizenship to deter immigrants from responding to the decennial survey, the results of which serve to guide the redistribution of Congress and the number of state representatives in Congress.
Despite denials by Trump administration officials, evidence revealed last week suggests that the issue has been added as a way to give Republicans and white voters an electoral advantage.
A consortium of states, cities and civil rights groups filed a lawsuit over citizenship and three federal judges invalidated it.
The Supreme Court heard the case in April.
Boyd cited the ongoing litigation as an additional challenge.
In March, Gore met with the Oversight Committee, but Cummings said he had refused to answer more than 150 questions, citing the dispute over the census issue. Boyd said the Justice Department had offered to put Gore at the disposal of the committee again, if the agency's advice could also be present.
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