U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman on Wednesday opened an inquiry into the governmentâs false statements in New Yorkâs lawsuit challenging the Trump administrationâs decision to bar the state from its âTrusted Travelerâ program.
Furman called the disclosures last week âdeeply troublingâ that led the Homeland Security Department (DHS) to immediately reinstate New York residents in the program.
Furman directed DHS and the U.S. Attorneyâs Office in Manhattan to file a comprehensive report by Aug. 12 detailing all inaccurate or misleading statements and identify who was responsible.
DHS did not immediately comment Wednesday.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last week called the decision to bar residents from a program that allows the use of expedited lanes at U.S. airport as âa clear abuse of government power for political purposes.â
Cuomo suggested the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, and the acting deputy, Ken Cuccinelli, âviolated their oath of officeâ and said they could face âpossible criminal liability.â
New York is asking the U.S. government to pay its court costs and attorneysâ fees in the case. Furman directed New York and the U.S. government to hold talks in an effort to settle those claims.
Last week, Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer of New York asked DHSâs inspector general to investigate. Cuomo said the Trump administration was using DHS âas a political tool. It doesnât work that way. And itâs not just not right, and unethical and immoral. Itâs illegal.â
In February, DHS cut off New York from the program in response to the stateâs passage last June of a law allowing undocumented immigrants to apply for driverâs licenses and limiting federal access to license information.
The Trump administration acknowledged some other states and territories withheld driver information but had been allowed to participate.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Sandra Maler and Lisa Shumaker)
