Thread by @hansilowang

BREAKING: Trump administration attorneys confirm to a federal judge that Census Bureau and the Commerce Department will not release the data needed for Trump to try to alter census apportionment counts before the end of his term, as first reported by @NPR
beta.documentcloud.org/documents/2045…

@NPR 2. Justice Department attorneys & plaintiffs in the National Urban League-led lawsuit are asking U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh to put this suit over the Trump admin's census schedule changes on hold for 3 weeks to allow the incoming Biden admin to "assess" the case.

@NPR 3. Justice Department attorneys acknowledge that the Trump administration remains under "obligations to respond to information requests from Congress or the Office of the
Inspector General"

@NPR 4. NEW: The lead plaintiffs' attorneys at @lathamwatkins in the National Urban League-led lawsuit over the census schedule say that putting the case on hold and allowing the incoming Biden administration to review it will help ensure the accuracy of the 2020 census

@NPR @lathamwatkins 5. The Census Bureau's expected release date for the 2020 census state population counts used for congressional reapportionment is still March 6, Justice Department attorney Brad Rosenberg tells U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh during a virtual court conference.

@NPR @lathamwatkins 6. Email in which Census Bureau Dir. Steven Dillingham said a data report on noncitizens is a "number one priority," Judge Koh says, is "highly relevant" to Nat'l Urban League-led suit. DOJ atty Elliott Davis said it hasn't been turned over to plaintiffs

https://twitter.com/hansilowang/status/1349470713917403136?s=20

@NPR @lathamwatkins 7. Judge Koh asked DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg why Dillingham tried to make this data report on noncitizens a "number one priority" if the Trump admin's goal, according to DOJ, has been to get census results ready by March 6. Rosenberg notes there's a @CommerceOIG investigation.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 8. Judge Koh: No one on this call knows why Jan. 15 (today) was set by Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham as the deadline for a technical data report on noncitizens?

DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg: No, I don't know.

(Dillingham has backed off that deadline.)

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 9. DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg also said he does not know how the Census Bureau would have used that technical data report on noncitizens — and does not know when Trump appointees Nathaniel Cogley and Benjamin Overholt are leaving the bureau.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 10. Plaintiffs in the Nat'l Urban League-led lawsuit were planning to ask Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham to sit for questioning under oath before they agreed w DOJ to ask for case to be put on hold to let the Biden admin review the case, attorney Sadik Huseny said.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 11. Plaintiffs had planned to have Census Bureau Director Steven Dillingham sit for questioning under oath on Jan. 18, attorney Sadik Huseny said.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 12. Judge Koh asked plaintiffs if they're concerned Dillingham setting Jan. 15 as deadline for a technical data report on noncitizens could undermine public trust in the Census Bureau as an institution & suggested there could have been "a tweet" that would undermine the census.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 13. DOJ attorney Brad Rosenberg said it's "impossible" now for the Trump admin to implement Trump's memo calling for unauthorized immigrants to be excluded from census numbers that, according to the 14th Amendment, must include the "whole number of persons in each state."

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 14. To confirm no data will be released for now, Judge Koh wants the Trump admin to file a stipulation, which Koh said would be enforceable with sanctions, given that the administration has told things to courts, including the Supreme Court, before that turned out not to be true.

@NPR @lathamwatkins @CommerceOIG 15. The court conference has ended with attorneys planning to file a stipulation today that would put this lawsuit on hold through Feb. 5, when attorneys are set to gather again for a check-in conference with Judge Koh at 10 a.m. PT.