BY BRIAN BEUTLER, PRIYANKA ARIBINDI 

& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

—Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), icon

NOW YOU'RE MAKING CENSUS

Democrats on the House oversight committee have voted to hold Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress because they refused to hand over documents about the Trump administration’s efforts to add a citizenship question to the 2020 Census. President Trump retaliated by claiming executive privilege over all of those documents.

Ok, what does that mean? It means Democrats are trying to get to the bottom of a GOP plot to starve immigrant-rich communities of government resources and representation in Congress—and the Trump administration is trying to cover it up. That’s so unlike them!

Here’s the backstory, and why it matters.

• Every 10 years the government conducts a Census to determine how many people live in the country and where they are. The Census helps determine how congressional district lines are drawn and where tax dollars go, among other things.

• The Trump administration is trying to add a citizenship question to the Census, even though the Census is supposed to count both citizens and non-citizens. It’s doing this in the hope that undocumented immigrants will be too afraid to fill out their Census forms, because then the government would then know who to deport and how to find them. And if fewer immigrants fill out the Census, those communities will get fewer resources and less political representation. 

• How do we know this is why the Trump Administration added the question? Because activists and lawyers found documentary evidence that Ross’s efforts are the culmination of a multi-year GOP plan that would “be advantageous to Republicans and Non-Hispanic Whites.” We basically have a diary where conservatives admit to being corrupt.

• House Democrats have subpoenaed all the citizenship question documents, and their vote to hold Ross and Barr in contempt of Congress is designed to convince the courts to enforce those subpoenas.

• Trump now says Congress can’t see these documents because they’re covered by “executive privilege.” That’s a legal protection meant to shield direct communications with presidents from the public so presidents can get candid advice. It’s also bullshit in this case. Just today, Trump said he wasn’t “overly involved” in the Census.

Any day now, the Supreme Court will decide whether Republicans can add the citizenship question to the Census. Democrats want to expose all the racist and corrupt reasons why they want to. And it might be our last shot at keeping the citizenship question off the Census, so it’s vital that they win this fight.

Earlier this week, a truce between Democrats and Republicans that would have given members of Congress their first raise in 10 years fell apart after the House GOP’s campaign committee decided to attack the measure. Raising congressional salaries isn’t popular, but it’s an important way to make sure people who aren’t rich can serve in Congress, and to discourage members from cashing in as lobbyists. None other than House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (!!!) put it well when he said, “I do not want Congress, at the end of the day, to only be a place that millionaires serve.”

President Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos that if foreign governments have dirt on any of his opponents, “I think I’d want to hear it.” Russia, if you’re listening, he did it in 2016 and it worked, so he wants to do it again.

Trump’s former spokeswoman Hope Hicks will testify to the House Judiciary Committee about Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation next week. Naturally it’ll be behind closed doors, where all the American people hang out, but the transcript will be released afterward.

Donald Trump, Jr. testified privately to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Wednesday. “Honest Don,” as we like to call him, maintained that he did not tell his father about the June 2016 Trump Tower meeting, and didn’t pay attention to the Trump Tower Moscow project.

The U.S. Women’s National Team’s 13-0 World Cup victory over Thailand was an incredible feat, but it was also a reminder of how underfunded women’s sports teams are globally. Some women on the U.S. national team earn less than half as much as their male counterparts, despite the fact that they scored more goals on Tuesday than the men’s team did in their last three World Cup appearances combined. It seems only fair that they get paid three times as well the men, but we’re pretty sure they’d accept parity.

Why does Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) want to team up with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) to make oral contraception available over-the-counter? Probably because right now health insurance covers birth control at no out-of-pocket cost. If birth-control becomes available over-the-counter only, and without subsidy, it will force women, including those who can’t afford it, to pay for it out-of-pocket.

A group of Democratic state attorneys general filed a lawsuit to block a proposed Sprint/T-Mobile merger. The companies have tried to merge since 2014, and claim it will accelerate 5G and rural internet access, but the lawsuit argues that it would raise prices for consumers by at least $4.5 billion and eliminate jobs.

Gov. Kay Ivey (R-AL) has signed a bill that will make “chemical castration” a new parole condition for people convicted of certain sex offenses against children under 13. It will require select offenders to pay for and take non-permanent testosterone-inhibiting drugs until a judge allows them to stop. Ivey signed Alabama’s draconian abortion ban last month.

Former Del. Joe Morrissey (D-VA) defeated incumbent Democratic state senator Rosalyn Dance in Tuesday’s Virginia Democratic primary. Morrisey is best known for serving as a delegate from jail after a misdemeanor conviction related to his relationship with his 17-year-old employee (whom he got pregnant). He later married her, and did this antebellum photoshoot, as if there weren’t enough unfortunate events in this saga. What is it with Virginia politicians and photos…?

If you’re thinking of photoshopping women into your picture of 15 male Silicon Valley executives visiting a designer who’s famous for creating $1000 sweatpants, maybe don’t make it so obvious.

Mass protests in Hong Kong became violent on Wednesday when police officers fired tear gas canisters and rubber bullets at protesters. Tens of thousands gathered to physically block the country’s legislature and prevent a vote on a controversial bill that would allow Chinese authorities to extradite people from Hong Kong to face charges on the mainland.

The protesters successfully delayed the vote, but Hong Kong’s Legislative Council, where pro-Beijing lawmakers hold a majority, will likely consider it next week.

As states around the country try to limit reproductive rights, Gov. Janet Mills (D-ME) signed a bill that will expand access to care by allowing more Maine medical professionals to provide abortion services in the state. Starting this September, physician’s assistants, advanced practice registered nurses, and select other professionals will be allowed to administer abortion-inducing oral medication or perform in-clinic procedures, expanding access to care for women, especially in rural areas.

Maine will become only the second state after California to allow medical professionals who aren’t doctors to provide in-clinic abortions, though nearly two dozen other states have allowed more care providers to administer abortion medication.

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