Attorney General Bill Barr has directed the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division chief to not appear this week for a scheduled deposition at the House Committee on Oversight and Reform.

The Daily Beast reports that Stephen Boyd, the department’s top Hill liaison, sent a letter to the House Oversight Committee on Wednesday outlining his objections to House Democrats’ insistence that DOJ official John Gore not have an attorney present during his deposition.

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“We are disappointed that the Committee remains unwilling to permit Department counsel to represent the interests of the Executive Branch in the deposition of a senior Department official,” Boyd wrote. “Accordingly, Attorney General Barr’s determination that Mr. Gore will not appear at the Committee’s deposition unless a Department attorney may accompany him remains in effect.”

The Oversight Committee had been set to question Gore about his role in adding a question about citizenship status to the 2020 census, which Democrats have argued is designed to lower the population counts of more heavily populated urban areas, thus giving a boost to rural districts represented by Republicans.

In refusing to comply with the subpoena, Gore runs the risk of being held in contempt of Congress.