Tag: Trump Commerce Department

Why Wilbur Ross’ Census Lies Matter: Commerce Secretary’s Phony Rationale for Adding a Citizenship Question Is Inconsistent With Rule of Law

Credit: Getty Images

In an age when the president prevaricates promiscuously or his opponents will say almost anything to make him look bad (take your pick), it is tempting to conclude that public officials can lie with impunity. But that is not always the case, as Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross discovered when he tried to add a question about citizenship to the 2020 U.S. Census.

Last week, a federal judge in New York ruled that Ross, whose department includes the U.S. Census Bureau, “violated the law” and “violated the public trust” in “multiple independent ways” when he decided to change the census form — most egregiously, by offering a phony rationale he invented after he had made the decision. As U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman’s 277-page decision shows in head-shaking detail, that kind of dishonesty poses a clear threat to the rule of law.

The Constitution requires an “actual enumeration” of each state’s population, without regard to citizenship or immigration status, every 10 years so that representatives can be apportioned correctly. Asking about citizenship, which the main census form has not done since 1950, undermines that goal, as people may worry that the information they provide will be used against them or their relatives — a fear for which there is historical precedent, notwithstanding the government’s promise of confidentiality.

View the complete January 23 article by Jacob Sullum on the Creators website here.

Federal judge rules against Trump administration’s plan to add 2020 census citizenship question

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census was unlawful.

In his ruling, Judge Jesse Furman, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision to add the question to the census was “arbitrary and capricious” and enjoined the administration from including it on the questionnaire.

Furman, an Obama appointee, said Ross violated a statute that requires him to collect data through the acquisition and use of “administrative records” instead of through “direct inquiries” on a survey such as the census.

View the complete January 15 article by Lydia Wheeler on The Hill website here.

Federal judge rules against Trump administration’s plan to add 2020 census citizenship question

A federal judge in Manhattan ruled Tuesday that the Trump administration’s decision to add a citizenship question to the 2020 census was unlawful.

In his ruling, Judge Jesse Furman, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, said Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’s decision to add the question to the census was “arbitrary and capricious” and enjoined the administration from including it on the questionnaire.

Furman, an Obama appointee, said Ross violated a statute that requires him to collect data through the acquisition and use of “administrative records” instead of through “direct inquiries” on a survey such as the census.

View the complete January 15 article by Lydia Wheeler on The Hill website here.

Wilbur Ross Scheduled Meetings With Chevron, Boeing Despite Conflicts Of Interest

New evidence suggests that Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross put himself at risk of violating a criminal conflict-of-interest law by discussing business matters with Chevron executives — while his wife apparently owned a stake in the company worth more than $250,000.

On March 22, 2017, Ross hosted Chevron’s then-CEO John Watson, along with two other executives, in his conference room, according to the commerce secretary’s calendar. Forbes first reported the existence of the meeting in July, but both the Department of Commerce and Chevron refused to say what was discussed during the sit-down. After a legal battle that lasted more than six months, however, the government watchdog group American Oversight released a detailed version of Ross’ calendar last week, which shows that the agenda centered on oil and gas developments, tax reform and trade issues.

“It’s profoundly concerning,” said Norman Eisen, who served as Barack Obama’s ethics czar. “I can tell you if someone with this Chevron holding had come to me and asked to have a meeting, as described in that email, I would have said ‘Absolutely not—are you crazy?’”

View the complete October 25 article by Dan Alexander on the Forbes.com website here.

Commerce secretary faces scrutiny for investments, not selling certain holdings

The following article by Steven Mufson was posed on the Washington Post website August 17, 2018:

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta, AP)

As commerce secretary, Wilbur Ross has met with auto executives who are customers of the company he founded and still had a financial interest in.

He has met with the chief executive of a rail car manufacturer whose board he once sat on and whose shares he still owned.

And according to a Forbes magazine article, even though he owned a $10 million to $50 million stake in the financial firm Invesco, where he had worked, he met with a board member of the Qatar Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund that had given Ross’s former firm money to manage.

View the complete article here.

Endangered Species Act stripped of key provisions in Trump administration proposal

The following article by Darryl Fears was posted on the Washington Post website July 19, 2018:

Wood bison move toward higher ground at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. Wood bison, which are larger than the plains bison found in the Lower 48 states, disappeared from U.S. soil more than a century ago. Credit: Dan Joling, AP

The Trump administration unveiled a proposal Thursday that would strip the Endangered Species Act of key provisions, a move that conservationists say would weaken a law enacted 45 years ago to keep plant and animal species in decline from going extinct.

The proposal, announced jointly by the Interior and Commerce departments, which are charged with protecting endangered wildlife, would end the practice of extending similar protections to species regardless of whether they are listed as endangered or threatened. If the proposal is approved, likely by year’s end, protections for threatened plants and animals would be made on a case-by-case basis.

In another rollback of a key provision, the administration wants the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to strike language that guides officials to ignore economic impacts when determining how wildlife should be protected.

View the complete article here.

U.S. Commerce Official Still Holds Stake in Company Linked to Putin Associates

The following article by Dan Alexander of Forbes and Derek Kravitz was posted on the ProPublica website December 21, 2017:

Wendy Teramoto, the agency’s chief of staff, has maintained the investment in the wake of calls for an investigation.

This story was co-published with Forbes.

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross speaks during the Washington Conference on the Americas at the Department of State in Washington, D.C., on May 9. Ross’ chief of staff, Wendy Teramoto, was on the board of a company that did business with an entity partly owned by Putin allies, and still owns a stake in the company. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The chief of staff for Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Wendy Teramoto, still owns a stake in a shipping company tied to associates of Vladimir Putin, despite the fact that her former role as a board member for the same company prompted six Senate Democrats to request an investigation into her apparent conflicts of interest last month.

“We have not been notified, nor are we aware, of a formal investigation by the inspector general,” Commerce Department spokesperson James Rockas said in a statement. “But we continue to answer any questions that are raised by department ethics officials or the inspector general.” The statement said that Teramoto has recused herself from any matters relating to her investments. (The same senators also requested an investigation of Ross, who initially retained an estimated $3.4 million stake in the company, Navigator Holdings, but has since sold it.) Continue reading “U.S. Commerce Official Still Holds Stake in Company Linked to Putin Associates”