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Meng Reiterates Call for Attorney General to Investigate Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross

June 27, 2019

Congresswoman again urges probe following Supreme Court’s decision on census citizenship question

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) sent a letter to Attorney General William Barr urging him to investigate Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross for possible crimes related to making false statements with respect to documents required by law to be submitted to Congress.
Meng sent the letter following today's Supreme Court decision on the census citizenship question where Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that Secretary Ross' explanation for including the question was "contrived."
"Secretary Ross lied to me during a House hearing last year when I asked him if he had spoken with anyone in the White House about adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census and now the Supreme Court recognizes that he included the question under false pretenses," said Meng. "After Secretary Ross falsely told me that he was not aware of any discussions, court documents later revealed that he had actually spoken with then-Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, contradicting his statement to me. The Secretary must be held accountable for his blatant dishonesty and deception, and must face the consequences for his actions. High ranking government officials cannot be allowed to get away with lying. Attorney General Barr must investigate at once."
Meng's request to Barr is her second call for the Department of Justice to investigate Ross. Last October, she sent a letter to then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions asking him to launch a probe into the Secretary. But the Congresswoman never heard back from the Justice Department.
Copies of the letters from today and last year can be viewed here.