"During Congressional testimony, the then-Secretary stated his decision to reinstate the citizenship question was based solely on a DOJ request. That request memorandum was signed by the DOJ on December 12, 2017. However, evidence shows there were significant communications related to the citizenship question among the then-Secretary, his staff, and other government officials between March 2017 and September 2017, which was well before the DOJ request memorandum."
"Evidence also suggests the Department requested and played a part in drafting the DOJ memorandum. Further, the then-Secretary sent a memorandum to the Department on June 21, 2018, clarifying his deliberations regarding adding a citizenship question to the Decennial Census. In this memorandum, the then-Secretary stated he began considering the content of the 2020 Census, to include reinstating the citizenship question, soon after his appointment to Secretary."
Inspector General Peggy Gustafson concluded that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross misrepresented the full rationale for reinstating a citizenship question during his March 20 and March 22, 2018 testimonies. Ross told Congress the decision was based solely on a Department of Justice request memorandum signed December 12, 2017. Evidence shows significant communications among Ross, his staff, and other officials between March and September 2017, predating the DOJ memorandum, and indicates the Commerce Department requested and helped draft the DOJ memorandum. Ross later sent a June 21, 2018 memorandum stating he began considering the citizenship question soon after his appointment. The Public Integrity Section declined prosecution. The IG sent the report to Congress; the report remains unreleased.
Read at Emptywheel
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]