Just in… the President has made a claim of Executive Privilege regarding documents on the design of the 2020 census – in particular the addition of the “citizenship question” – a matter that is before the Supreme Court.
The census is mandated by the Constitution. Executive Privilege traditionally (although it has no Constitutional basis) has been used to restrict access to matters of national security and policy making in the White House.
Given how controversial this change to the census is, and given the disclosure last week of Republican documents planning the change that made it clear that the purpose of the change is to suppress voting by Hispanics and make it easier for white voters to control elections, is this an appropriate extension of Executive Privilege?
Trump appears prepared to apply it to anything that happened in his executive branch. Given that the “privilege” has no Constitutional basis – how can a blanket privilege of all Executive Matters be justified. And if you believe it is, doesn’t this make Trump’s claim that he is running “the most transparent administration” ever and out and out lie?
