U.S. House panel threatens contempt of Congress vote against Barr, Ross

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U.S. House panel threatens contempt of Congress vote against Barr, Ross

 

FILE PHOTO - U.S. Attorney General William Barr leaves after a meeting with Attorney Generals of Northern Triangle of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador May 16, 2019. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top U.S. law enforcement officer and the Commerce secretary will face a contempt of Congress vote unless they hand over documents by Thursday on efforts to put a citizenship question on the 2020 census, the chairman of a House of Representatives panel warned on Monday.

 

Representative Elijah Cummings, chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee, sent letters to Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross warning them they had until Thursday to comply with the subpoena after having failed for two months to produce the documents.

 

Barr also faces a contempt vote next week by the full House on whether he failed to comply with a subpoena seeking the full, unredacted report on Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

 

The House panel's move comes as the Supreme Court is expected to soon render judgment on a lawsuit over the census issue.

 

FILE PHOTO - Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) annual meeting at National Harbor near Washington, U.S., March 1, 2019. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

 

The conservative-majority court appeared poised after arguments in late April to accept the administration's position that the citizenship question would yield better data to enforce the Voting Rights Act, which protects eligible voters from discrimination.

 

But an immigrant advocacy group said in a filing in a Manhattan federal court last week that a longtime Republican specialist on drawing electoral districts played a "significant role" in planning the citizenship question.

 

The filing charged that the Trump administration had concealed evidence that its proposal for the question was intended to help Republicans draw favourable electoral maps during the next restricting based on the census.

 

A study by Harvard researchers in March predicted the citizenship question would lead to an undercount of some 4.2 million people among Hispanics, costing their communities federal aid and political representation.

 

The Commerce Department issued a statement accusing the House panel of using "mere insinuations and conspiracy theories" to "desperately and improperly influence the Supreme Court."

 

It said the department had produced 14,000 pages of documents and Ross had testified nearly seven hours over the issue. The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

In his letter to Ross, Cummings said the Commerce secretary had testified he added the citizenship question solely at the request of the Justice Department to help enforce the Voting Rights Act.

 

"Last week, new documents were unearthed that suggest that the real reason the Trump administration sought to add the citizenship question was not to help enforce the Voting Rights Act at all, but rather to gerrymander congressional districts in overtly racist, partisan and unconstitutional ways," he added.

 

Cummings said the panel would consider postponing its contempt of Congress vote if Ross and Barr produced unredacted documents the committee had requested by Thursday.

 

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Lisa Shumaker)

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-06-04

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[Basil B]

Hope they nail him while the big chief is away meddling in British politics...

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, Basil B said:

Hope they nail him while the big chief is away meddling in British politics...

Well the did just nail one of Trump’s paedophile friends.

 

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/george-nader-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges.html

[Tug]

Put trumps dog in the dog pound!im surprised they haven’t done it and more before now

[connda]

It's been a lame-duck congress since the 2018 elections and will stay that way until after the 2020 elections.  Sure would be nice if Congress would actually legislate instead to engaging in divisive partisan politics.  Seems to be the new normal though.

[rudi49jr]

32 minutes ago, connda said:

It's been a lame-duck congress since the 2018 elections and will stay that way until after the 2020 elections.  Sure would be nice if Congress would actually legislate instead to engaging in divisive partisan politics.  Seems to be the new normal though.

Have you been living under a rock or something? The republicans haven’t done anything else than ‘engaging in divisive partisan politics’, as you put it, for at least the last 25 years. That, and protecting their guys G.W. and The Donald in the white house.

[billd766]

5 hours ago, Basil B said:

They tend to with a bonfire...

Or one of these.

 

 

[TPI]

1 hour ago, rudi49jr said:

Have you been living under a rock or something? The republicans haven’t done anything else than ‘engaging in divisive partisan politics’, as you put it, for at least the last 25 years. That, and protecting their guys G.W. and The Donald in the white house.

Hilary hilary hilary, you can hear the echo down through the ages...hilary hilary should have won...should have won....

[Morch]

53 minutes ago, TPI said:

Hilary hilary hilary, you can hear the echo down through the ages...hilary hilary should have won...should have won....

 

But but but Hillary they quack....

[Basil B]

3 hours ago, billd766 said:

Or one of these.

 

 

No that was the test...

 

If they drowned they were innocent.

[spidermike007]

14 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Well the did just nail one of Trump’s paedophile friends.

 

http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2019/06/george-nader-arrested-on-child-pornography-charges.html

Now, if only they could get Trump for the activity with Jeffrey Epstein, while aboard for the 22 trips to Orgy Island, before Trump's buddy was convicted of statutory rape. Nobody seems to want to touch this very hot potato. 

[spidermike007]

Barr needs to be punished. He has completely lost sight of his role as AG, and seems to be behaving like Rudy II. He is an abomination. 

[spidermike007]

4 hours ago, connda said:

It's been a lame-duck congress since the 2018 elections and will stay that way until after the 2020 elections.  Sure would be nice if Congress would actually legislate instead to engaging in divisive partisan politics.  Seems to be the new normal though.

Out of touch, extremely partisan, brainwashed, and a consumer of massive amounts of Kool aid would barely begin to describe the above statement. 

 

Congress is simply trying to do their job, against the obstructionist in chief. 

[Scott]

Troll post removed along with replies.