NEW: We recently obtained new records that further demonstrate the influence of far-right groups at the Trump administration’s Commerce Department and Census Bureau.
americanoversight.org/documents-show…
The documents include an email to former Sec. Wilbur Ross from the leader of an anti-immigration group lamenting “the shift of political power” brought by immigration.
The documents also indicate another right-wing group’s apparently successful efforts to place an appointee at Commerce.
The records contain a Dec. 2019 email from the executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, an extreme anti-immigration group, to Ross about a CIS report.
“Our big concern,” Mark Krikorian wrote, “is that the [Trump] administration’s as-yet-unreleased immigration plan will set in stone the current legal immigration level of 1 million-plus each year, and thus continue this shift of political power toward blue states.”
As secretary, Ross had been a key figure in the administration’s attempt to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census, which was ultimately blocked by the Supreme Court in June 2019.
In July 2020, Trump issued a memo instructing Ross to report with the census results information that would allow Trump to exclude undocumented immigrants from the count used to determine congressional seats. An early executive order from President Biden reversed that policy.
The records also include emails from someone who appears to have been working with or on behalf of the Federalist Society — the conservative organization that exercised significant power over Trump’s judicial nominations — to help find mid-level hires for Commerce.

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More from @weareoversight

30 Mar
From the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Trump admin. interfered with key decisions at the nation’s top scientific agencies.

Here’s what journalists, watchdogs, & oversight agencies have uncovered about the politicization of science agencies.
americanoversight.org/one-year-of-th…
Last fall, the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis released a majority staff analysis in October that found at least 47 separate incidents of political interference in the administration’s response spanning February through September 2020.
coronavirus.house.gov/sites/democrat…
The report noted that these incidents impacted every major facet of the public health response and were increasing in number and severity as the presidential election drew nearer.
Read 5 tweets
29 Mar
In 2020, the Trump administration created a new section within DOJ focused on denaturalization — revoking citizenship from naturalized Americans.

We obtained records that provide new insight into the creation of this “denaturalization” section.
americanoversight.org/records-shed-n…
The records include an internal announcement of the new section circulated by then-Assistant AG Jody Hunt on Feb. 26, 2020. Hunt emphasized the Office of Immigration Litigation’s “great success” in prior denaturalization cases.
Hunt said the section would enable the department to “prioritize this important work and dedicate particular resources to it.”
Read 4 tweets
29 Mar
Former President Trump’s combative relationships with multiple state leaders led to significant breakdowns in state and federal coordination, exacerbating the problems created by the administration’s hands-off approach.
americanoversight.org/one-year-of-th…
We received documents from Illinois, Washington state, and Wisconsin that showed state officials struggled to coordinate with the White House and federal agencies in the spring of 2020, when states were in desperate need of PPE and medical supplies.
americanoversight.org/wisconsin-offi…
During these early months, congressional delegations from Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, and Wisconsin wrote to health agencies and the White House requesting assistance in filling their states' PPE requests.
murphy.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/…
Read 5 tweets
26 Mar
#FOIA is a powerful tool for investigating influence and access at the highest levels of government. News reports indicated that top Trump admin. officials in charge of the Covid-19 response were providing inside access to well-connected companies. #FOIAFriday
We filed FOIAs for communications of senior HHS officials — and we found emails between
former DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and then-HHS Sec. Azar in March 2020.
americanoversight.org/in-march-2020-…
Nielsen recommended that in its pandemic response, HHS work with a private company that had previously participated in a 2019 DHS pilot program to test immigrants’ DNA.
Read 7 tweets
26 Mar
Last July, we obtained a State Department whistleblower complaint revealing an ongoing inquiry into “questionable activities” of former Secretary Mike Pompeo.

Both the State Dept. & CIA are withholding records related to their IGs investigating complaints about Pompeo’s conduct.
Steve Linick, the State Department inspector general, was fired in May 2020. We received emails from State suggesting that the firing was directly tied to a request from Pompeo.
americanoversight.org/document/state…
Now, State is withholding in full 9 pages of Linick’s emails regarding complaints about Pompeo’s misconduct.
americanoversight.org/document/no-re…
Read 5 tweets
25 Mar
Donald Trump's former DHS chief just launched a consulting firm. Records and reporting show that Chad Wolf played a key role in implementing some of the Trump administration's cruelest and most undemocratic policies, including family separation.
americanoversight.org/chad-wolfs-leg…
On Tuesday, @Politico reported that Wolf—who served as DHS chief of staff while the department was systematically separating families, & who was acting secretary as Trump increasingly weaponized DHS for his political aims—is starting a DC consulting firm.
politico.com/news/2021/03/2…
In a September 2020 congressional hearing, Wolf denied that he helped to develop the policy that led to the separation of thousands of migrant families, saying that it “was not my portfolio” and “was not my issue set at that time.”
borderreport.com/politics/actin…
Read 9 tweets

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