U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh tells DOJ attorney Aleks Sverdlov at court conference: "I was very disappointed and surprised to see the government just say, 'We're not complying with the court's order. You're not going to get a page more today. Goodbye.' "
2. Judge Koh: Is it the Census Bureau's position that it will never complete production of an administrative record before Sept. 30?
DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg: "We're not in the position to make that type of statement."
3. "Does that not seem peculiar to you?" Judge Koh asks DOJ attorney Aleks Sverdlov, noting only docs Trump admin has released so far that are "really responsive" are iterations of this Aug. 3 slide deck that House oversight committee has already released:
documentcloud.org/documents/7196…
4. Here are the 3 different iterations of the Aug. 3 slide deck "Operational and Processing Options to Meet Statutory Date of December 31, 2020 for Apportionment":
- documentcloud.org/documents/7207…
- documentcloud.org/documents/7207…
- documentcloud.org/documents/7207…
5. Before calling a 15-minute break in conference, Judge Koh asked DOJ & plaintiffs' attorneys to discuss their views on extending temporary restraining order to give Trump admin to complete administrative record so the judge can fully rule on the case and give time for appeals.
6. DOJ refused to directly answer Judge Koh's questions about whether the Census Bureau is going to impose a Sept. 30 deadline for #2020Census data collection in areas affected by wildfires, major storms & COVID-19 resurgence.
7. Judge Koh pointed out there's been smoke from wildfires for days in the San Jose, Calif. courthouse she is in and noted there are courthouse workers who have had to evacuate their homes and had their neighborhoods destroyed.
8. Judge Koh coughed into her clenched left hand multiple times as DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg tried to push back on the judge's request for the Census Bureau to provide door-knocking completion rates for all areas affected by wildfires, major storms or COVID-19 resurgence.
9. Judge Koh (after noting that the air in San Jose, Calif., has been declared unsafe for 28 days): "If you really care about an accurate count, how are we going to account for these things that is a reality for us? This is what we're living with."
10. Judge Koh noted that from April 13 to Aug. 3 the Census Bureau extended #2020Census data collection to Oct. 31 "even absent authorization from Congress."
"Why did the Census Bureau go out and tell all of its partners Oct. 31 was the deadline for months?" the judge asked.
11. "This is a problem for Congress to solve," DOJ attorney Aleks Sverdlov said in response to Judge Koh's question about whether Census Bureau is going to make any exceptions to the 9/30 end date for counting for areas affected by wildfires, major storms, COVID-19 resurgence.
12. To try to get a quick decision, Judge Koh suggests DOJ turn over all docs Census Bureau submitted for Commerce Dept Office of Inspector General's inquiry (see below) for judge to privately review. DOJ has until midnight PT to decide what to do.
13. Here are the internal documents and communications related to the decision to shorten the #2020Census schedule that the @uscensusbureau was supposed to turn over to @CommerceOIG by Aug. 17:
@uscensusbureau @CommerceOIG 14. Judge Koh has ordered the Trump admin to send by today copies of these documents for the judge to privately review to determine if the admin properly asserted privilege to not release them for the lawsuit over the shortened #2020Census schedule:
@uscensusbureau @CommerceOIG 15. Questions that Judge Koh wants DOJ to answer for this lawsuit over shortened #2020Census schedule:
Has Trump admin provided the court with the latest version of this Aug. 3 slide deck, which was 1st released by House oversight committee on Sept. 2?
documentcloud.org/documents/7196…
@uscensusbureau @CommerceOIG 16. How many #2020Census workers, if any, have been laid off (and where) for reasons not related to work performance since Judge Koh issued the temporary restraining order on Sept. 5?
@uscensusbureau @CommerceOIG 17. In areas affected by wildfires, major storms and/or COVID-19 resurgence:
- how are #2020Census door knockers making 6 contact attempts?
- how will bureau complete counting if 9/30 is end date - through gov't records & imputation?
- what's completion rate for door knocking?
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