Commerce Dept. ordered ex-official not to answer House panel questions

[DonViejo]

Source: Politico


By ANDREW DESIDERIO 06/25/2019 05:05 AM EDT

A former senior Commerce Department official refused to answer more than 100 questions during an interview with the House Oversight and Reform Committee that centered on the Trump administration’s controversial decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, according to a transcript released Tuesday.

Commerce Department lawyers instructed James Uthmeier, who served as senior adviser and counsel to Secretary Wilbur Ross, not to answer the committee’s questions about his contacts with the White House and his conversations with Ross.

Uthmeier was also directed not to discuss the contents of a memo he wrote to a senior Justice Department official, John Gore, that purportedly outlines legal arguments surrounding the addition of a citizenship question to the census. On several occasions, Uthmeier was also blocked from disclosing details about his own conversations with Gore.

The Trump administration has sought to block several witnesses from cooperating with House Democrats’ investigations, including the Oversight Committee’s investigation of the census and the Judiciary Committee’s investigation into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice. In both cases, the Trump administration has asserted that current and former officials are immune from testifying about their conversations with the president and their tenure in the administration.

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/06/25/commerce-house-panel-questions-1380209

[riversedge]

1. Ross should have put himself out to pasture a LONG time ago. If we had enough moral Republicans

in Congress, maybe the USA could be salvaged. I fear not at this point!!

[wiggs]

2. So if witnesses refuse to testify, why shouldn't dem congresspersons go public with a statement

that assumes the worst suspicions are true? Probably accurate anyway.

With lack of testimony otherwise, let's state that it's likely the administration's motivations were racist and undemocratic. Let them come and deny it with proof.

This is not a court of law, innocence isn't the default especially with this group. Guilt should be the default.

[UpInArms]

3. Putting this back up at the top

This is more evidence of obstruction