(CNN) The Trump administration is trying to get a federal judge to help shield thousands of internal documents about the 2020 census from the public. The more than 8,800 records, plus an undisclosed number due for release later this week, document the administration's controversial move to cut off the census at the end of September, rather than the planned October 31. Critics say that the decision to cut off responses this month is one of several ways the administration is playing politics with the census -- with the goal of creating Republican advantages in Congress and presidential elections for the next decade. Several groups suing the government have asked the court to require census counting continue into October. But in an odd maneuver to stop documents from being released, the Justice Department has essentially asked Judge Lucy Koh to rule against the administration.

Source: CNN September 16, 2020 15:33 UTC