Upon request by US Attorney General William Barr and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, the President has exerted executive privilege over documents demanded by the House Committee on Oversight and Reform regarding the citizenship question on the 2020 census.
In a letter to committee chairman Elijah Cummings, the Attorney General expressed his displeasure regarding the committee’s decision to hold Barr and Ross in contempt regarding the release of documents the Attorney General considers “attorney-client communications, attorney work product, and deliberative communications.” In comments to CNBC, Ross said, “what we are respecting is long standing practice, we are not accepting the un-redaction of documents … so please don’t tell me we are not cooperating.”
Ross went on to say the the citizenship question is being decided by the Supreme Court and that decision is expected later this month.