Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross appears to have misled Congress when he testified that the Justice Department had "initiated" including a question about U.S. citizenship on the U.S. census, according to newly unredacted documents released Monday as part of a lawsuit. Ross said in March that the Justice Department had pushed for the citizenship question, which hasn't been included in the census since 1950, so it could enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The new documents add to the evidence that Ross was the driving force. In a September 2017 email to Ross, Commerce official Earl Comstock said he had approached the Justice Department in May to "discuss the citizenship question," and "Justice staff did not want to raise the question given the difficulties Justice was encountering in the press at the time (the whole Comey matter)." Comstock said he then tried the Department of Homeland Security, and they pointed him back to the Justice Department, so he asked a Commerce Department lawyer to explore "how Commerce could add the question to the census itself." A few months later, the Justice Department formally requested the citizenship question. The Census Bureau's chief scientist, other researchers, and a bureau-sponsored marketing campaign have found that including the citizenship question depresses the participation of Latinos, Asians, and other minorities, skewing the constitutionally mandated decennial head count. Ross "personally lobbied the attorney general to submit the memorandum that the secretary 'then later relied on to justify his decision,'" plaintiffs' lawyers argued in the lawsuit, one of six around the country seeking to strike the citizenship question. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman, who's overseeing the lawsuit in Manhattan, had ordered the Trump administration to release the unredacted memos, saying they "go to the heart" of the central question of Ross' intent in adding the citizenship question. Furman has potentially scheduled a trial to start Nov. 5, though Justice Department lawyers are arguing against a trial and Ross deposition.<doc-sep>Ross will be deposed over adding a question on citizenship status to the census. A federal judge has ordered U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross be deposed over a decision to reinstate a question regarding citizenship status to the upcoming 2020 census, court documents show. U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York wrote in his opinion Friday that "Secretary Ross must sit for a deposition because, among other things, his intent and credibility are directly at issue." Ross is to be questioned by attorneys representing more than a dozen states and cities in lawsuits challenging the decision and accusing Ross of acting improperly. The lawsuit claims immigrants will be discouraged from participating if the citizenship question is added, which will dilute political diversity, and in turn, decrease federal funding to states that tend to vote Democrat, according to The Associated Press. Ross began considering whether to reinstate the question shortly after he was appointment in February 2017, "well before" the Department of Justice made a formal request to do so on Dec. 12, according to the order, which cited earlier submissions made by Ross. Ross manifested an "unusually strong personal interest in the matter," Furman wrote, adding that the secretary demanded to know as early as May 2017 why no action had been taken on his months-old request — seven months before the formal DOJ request was made. The secretary then "ultimately mandated the addition of the citizenship question," despite the "strong and continuing opposition" from the U.S. Census Bureau, the court documents state. The state of New York — one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit challenging the census decision — is welcoming the federal judge's order, said, Amy Spitalnick spokeswoman for New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood, in a statement to ABC News. The Department of Commerce declined to comment to ABC News. ABC News' Aaron Katerksy and Anne Flaherty contributed to this report.<doc-sep>Amy Spitalnick, a spokeswoman for the New York attorney general’s office, said on Friday that Ross’s answers will be crucial to the case. “Secretary Ross testified to Congress that [the Department of Justice] initiated the request for the citizenship question because of Voting Rights Act concerns; yet documents show otherwise, instead reflecting Secretary Ross’ concern for reducing representation of communities with large immigrant populations. We look forward to getting to the bottom of this as we continue our suit to ensure a full and fair Census,” she wrote in an email.<doc-sep>(Reuters) - U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross must sit for questioning by lawyers for states that are suing the Trump administration over a planned question in the 2020 census that would ask respondents whether they are U.S. citizens, a federal judge ruled Friday. FILE PHOTO: U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross attends a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Leah Millis U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan ruled that Ross, who oversees the census, must submit to a four-hour deposition because his “intent and credibility are directly at issue” in the litigation. A spokesman for the Commerce Department declined to comment. The census, mandated by the U.S. Constitution, is conducted every 10 years and counts every resident in the United States. It is used to determine the distribution of billions of dollars in federal funds to communities and the allocation to states of seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Commerce Department has been sued by states, cities and advocacy groups seeking to block the citizenship question. They have argued that the question will lead to undercounting in states with large immigrant populations, jeopardizing their political representation and access to federal funds. [nL2N1RG0X6] The opponents have said that an “unprecedented level of anxiety in immigrant communities” under President Donald Trump, a Republican who has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, could deter noncitizens from responding to the census. Furman said in his order on Friday that deposing Ross was necessary to gather evidence on whether his motivation for adding the citizenship question was improper or discriminatory. The Commerce Department said in March that Ross decided to add the citizenship question after the Department of Justice requested it, in order to better enforce federal voting law. [nL1N1R904F] However, plaintiffs in the litigation have said that reason was merely a pretext. In a July order allowing the litigation to go forward, Furman said there was evidence for that claim. [nL1N1UM0ZH] The administration has opposed Ross’s deposition. Furman wrote Friday, “There is something surprising, if not unsettling, about defendants’ aggressive efforts to shield Secretary Ross from having to answer questions about his conduct.” All of the states involved in the lawsuit have Democratic attorneys general and the cities have Democratic mayors. The United States Conference of Mayors, a bipartisan group, is also a plaintiff.<doc-sep>
(CNN) — Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross must sit for a deposition in a lawsuit against his department over its decision to include a question about citizenship in the 2020 Census, a federal judge ruled Friday. The Commerce Department announced in March that the question of citizenship will again be included in the 2020 Census, which the administration said was necessary to enforce the Voting Rights Act. New York, along with other states and cities, filed a lawsuit in April to block the government’s decision to include the question, arguing it would intimidate immigrants and decrease participation in the census. US District Judge Jesse Furman of the Southern District of New York said Ross’s deposition, limited to four hours, is needed “because Secretary Ross was personally and directly involved in the decision, and the unusual process leading to it, to an unusual degree.” The Commerce Department declined to comment on Furman’s order. The Department of Justice also declined to comment. Ross testified before the House earlier this year that the Department of Justice had “initiated the request for inclusion of the citizenship question.” In his March memo, Ross said he “set out to take a hard look” at re-adding the question following the Justice Department’s request. In his opinion, Furman wrote, “The record developed thus far, however, casts grave doubt on those claims.” He noted that Ross, “by his own admission,” began considering reinstating a citizenship question shortly after his confirmation in February 2017, but before the Department of Justice’s formal request in December 12, 2017. In May 2017, Ross also demanded to know why no action had been taken on his request, taking “an unusually strong personal interest in the matter,” Furman wrote. The Commerce secretary also testified that he was “not aware” he discussed the Census question with “anyone in the White House,” the judge wrote, adding that there is “now reason to believe” that Ross consulted with former senior White House adviser Steve Bannon on the issue. The judge also noted that Ross ultimately mandated the addition of the question despite an internal Census Bureau memo sent to Ross in January, but made public in June, that warned it would hurt “the quality of the census count” and be “very costly.” Furman added that there was “something surprising, if not unsettling” about the government’s “aggressive efforts to shield Secretary Ross from having to answer questions about his conduct.” “The Court concludes that the question is not a close one: Secretary Ross must sit for a deposition because, among other things, his intent and credibility are directly at issue in these cases,” Furman wrote. CNN’s Gregory Wallace, Clare Foran and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this story.