Lies, damned lies & the Census

It’s long been obvious that the Trump administration wants to turn the 2020 Census into a political weapon, inserting a question on citizenship to intimidate immigrants from being counted, thereby depressing the clout of diverse, left-leaning states like California and New York.

As officials claimed otherwise under oath in Congress and in courts, evidence of their true intent mounted. Now the pile is about to fall over, hopefully on the Supreme Court floor.

The prevarications began with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross’ claim, in testimony to a House Committee, that the question was included at the request of the Justice Department, to fulfill Voting Rights Act obligations.

Internal documents and Commerce staffers later revealed that was pure pretext.

In January, Ross lost the argument in federal court, in a case brought by New York, 16 other states, seven cities and many other groups. With deadlines to finalize questionnaires

approaching, a seemingly friendlier Supreme Court is set to rule soon on an appeal.

In a just world, Thursday’s bombshell New York Times story would settle the matter decisively: Files discovered in recently deceased Republican redistricting expert Tom Hofeller’s estate revealed the cynical genesis of the push.

A 2015 Hofeller paper, later shared with the Trump administration, pushed for including the question explicitly to reduce Hispanic numbers and enhance, via post-census gerrymandered maps, the electoral advantage of “Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.”

In court, of course, the administration hid Hofeller’s role and pushed the bogus votingrights line. Will the offenders be sanctioned? They must.

Given the extraordinary timing, the revelations are unlikely to influence the court’s deliberations. A crying shame. This is daylight robbery.