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AG Bill Barr and Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi today appealing to her to stop the contempt vote re: the House Oversight subpoena for census-related materials assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6205… 
The House has voted 230-198 to hold AG Barr and Commerce Sec. Ross in criminal contempt for not complying with a committee subpoena for materials about the census citizenship question. This is a criminal contempt resolution; the House prev. voted to hold Barr in civil contempt
A civil contempt vote means the House can go to court to sue to enforce its subpoena. A criminal contempt vote means the House makes a referral to DOJ (historically the US attorney's office in DC), which then decides whether to convene a grand jury (extremely unlikely)
Here's DOJ spox Kerri Kupec on today's contempt vote: "Holding the Attorney General in contempt for working in good-faith with Congress marks a new low for Speaker Pelosi’s House of Representatives. This vote is nothing more than a political stunt."
And here's Commerce Sec. Wilbur Ross: "House Democrats never sought to have a productive relationship with the Trump Administration, and today’s PR stunt further demonstrates their unending quest to generate headlines instead of operating in good faith with our Department."
