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The Department of Justice accused the Democratic campaign arm of Congress of withholding key redistricting documents, an allegation that surfaced just before a three-day hearing kicked off Monday in federal court over California’s Proposition 50.
The DOJ argued in court papers that the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and consultant Paul Mitchell attempted to hinder the discovery process, including by dumping several gigabytes of files on the government less than two days before the hearing was set to begin.
The documents, according to DOJ lawyers, included evidence that Mitchell “prioritized racial considerations” when he drew the Proposition 50 map, such as a slide deck he made promoting how the map would increase voting opportunities for Latino residents.
DOJ attorneys said the DCCC misled the court by claiming it lacked control over Mitchell’s records despite having a contractual right to inspect and copy his materials.
DOJ BACKS TEXAS IN SUPREME COURT FIGHT OVER REPUBLICAN-DRAWN MAP
The DCCC therefore had an obligation to produce responsive records as part of the discovery process, the lawyers said. Meanwhile, Mitchell also withheld documents, raised baseless privilege objections dozens of times in his deposition and produced a small fraction of his tens of thousands of files to the court, the DOJ lawyers said.
The clash is part of a lawsuit the DOJ joined with a California Republican assemblyman against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the DCCC. The lawsuit alleges that Proposition 50, which would allow the state to draw a more Democrat-friendly map in time for the 2026 midterms, involved unconstitutional racial gerrymandering.
The litigation is one of many redistricting disputes that have cropped up across the country ahead of next year’s election. Proposition 50, which passed as a ballot measure in November, was a direct response to a mid-decade redistricting effort in Texas and designed to cancel out the five Republican gains there. The Supreme Court recently upheld Texas’ map in an emergency order after left-leaning groups alleged it was a race-based effort.
A source familiar with the DOJ’s thinking said the department viewed Texas’ redrawing as a political exercise, whereas California’s was racial. The source said the Newsom administration appeared to be “covering up the racially driven design” of its map, calling the redistricting effort a “brazen power grab” that undermines the election process and divides voters based on race.
The DCCC argued in a court document on Monday that the DOJ was attempting to “slam square pegs into round holes to build up their paper-thin case” and that the department was overstating DCCC’s access to Mitchell’s files.
DOJ JOINS LAWSUIT AGAINST NEWSOM OVER ‘RACIAL GERRYMANDER’ OF CALIFORNIA MAP
In addition to Texas and California, Louisiana has a case pending before the Supreme Court that could affect its map by the next election, depending on when the high court rules on it. In Utah, Republicans were recently dealt a blow by a state judge who approved a new map that will tip one of the state’s four districts in favor of Democrats.
Illinois and Maryland, two blue states, and Virginia, where Democrats control the legislature, are also taking steps toward redistricting.
The DOJ has asked a three-judge panel hearing the California case to determine that race was a major factor in the drawing of the map based on Mitchell’s and the DCCC’s actions. That finding would bolster the lawsuit’s broader claim, which the court is vetting during this week’s three-day hearing, that Proposition 50 amounted to unconstitutional racial gerrymandering and must be blocked.
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