Crime

House Holds Attorney General and Commerce Secretary in Contempt

PASADENA JOURNAL — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for defying bipartisan subpoenas authorized by the Committee on Oversight and Reform and withholding key documents regarding the Trump Administration’s illegal pretext for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

Published

6 years ago

July 31, 2019

Oakland Post

By Pasadena Journal

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General William Barr and Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross in criminal contempt of Congress for defying bipartisan subpoenas authorized by the Committee on Oversight and Reform and withholding key documents regarding the Trump Administration’s illegal pretext for adding a citizenship question to the 2020 Census.

Since the Committee issued bipartisan subpoenas on April 2, 2019, the Departments of Justice and Commerce have refused to produce key unredacted documents.

The Administration originally claimed that it would not produce documents while the Supreme Court was considering this case—a baseless argument that was rejected by the Committee.

But now, the Administration is still refusing to produce the documents even though the Supreme Court ruled last month that the Administration’s actions were illegal—and that its “voting rights” claim was a “pretext,” “contrived,” and “incongruent with what the record reveals.”

This article originally appeared in the Pasadena Journal.

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Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of November 5 – 11, 2025

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1 week ago

November 7, 2025

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Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of October 29 – November 4, 2025

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2 weeks ago

November 3, 2025

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Alameda County

Man Arrested for Making Death Threats Against Mayor Barbara Lee

Arrested last week, Pokorny faces a felony for threatening a public official and also hate-crime allegations. He has pleaded not guilty.

Published

3 weeks ago

October 27, 2025

Ken Epstein

Barbara Lee. File photo.

By Ken Epstein

David Pokorny, 45, of El Cerrito, has been charged with mailing racist death threats to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee.

Arrested last week, Pokorny faces a felony for threatening a public official and also hate-crime allegations. He has pleaded not guilty.

The first email, sent Sept. 7, used racial slurs to refer to Black Oakland residents. The sender threatened to kill them, as well as government officials, including Lee, police officers, and judges.

The most recent email, sent Sept. 21, directly threatened Lee: “You are a psychopath,” the sender wrote, “and I’m going to torture and murder you.”

Responding, Mayor Lee said, “Violence has no place in our city or our democracy. Intimidation and hate will not silence Oakland public servants or the communities we represent. We will continue to do the people’s work — regardless of circumstances.”

Pokorny was arrested Oct. 7 in Southern California and booked into Santa Rita Jail. As of Wednesday, he remained in custody, with bail set at $70,000.