Trump Officials Face Cover-Up Allegations After Failed Citizenship Question Push

Days after President Trump announced he's no longer pushing for a citizenship question on the 2020 census, officials in his administration are now facing allegations of covering up the question's origins.

Challengers of the question filed a formal request Tuesday for U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman of New York to consider imposing penalties on the Trump administration for allegedly providing false or misleading statements as part of the multiple lawsuits over the question, which was originally approved by Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

Administration officials allegedly engaged in conduct that is "nothing less than a fraud on the Court," plaintiffs' attorneys with the ACLU, New York Civil Liberties Union and Arnold & Porter argue.

"Through the use of false or misleading testimony, they obscured evidence suggesting that the true purpose of Secretary Ross's decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census — suppressing the political power of minority immigrant communities," the lawyers argue.

They also note, however, that "the misconduct appears to have been perpetrated by senior Commerce and [Justice Department] officials — not the career DOJ attorneys who litigated this case."