Jake Sherman: “Where has Wilbur Ross been? I’ve been watching a lot of cable TV since this whole thing started, and I cannot remember having seen him once. He was at Cabinet meeting Tuesday. But otherwise, I cannot think of a cabinet official that’s been quieter in this crisis than Wilbur Ross.”

“President Trump has told aides and allies that he is considering removing Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross after a stinging Supreme Court defeat on adding a citizenship question to the census,” NBC News reports.

“While Trump has previously expressed frustration with the 81-year-old Ross, in particular over failed trade negotiations, Ross’s long personal relationship with the president has allowed him to keep his job. And after the departure of Labor Secretary Alex Acosta, the Cabinet’s only Hispanic who resigned on Friday amid questions about his role in a controversial 2008 plea agreement with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Ross may yet receive another reprieve.”

“But some White House officials expect Ross to be the next Cabinet secretary to depart, possibly as soon as this summer, according to advisers and officials.”

A federal judge ruled that Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross acted in “bad faith,” broke several laws and violated the constitutional underpinning of representative democracy when he added a citizenship question to the 2020 Census, the Washington Post reports.

“In finding a breach of the Constitution’s enumeration clause, which requires a census every 10 years to determine each state’s representation in Congress, the 126-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco went further than a similar decision on Jan. 15 by Judge Jesse Furman in New York.”

“The Supreme Court has already agreed to review Furman’s narrower decision, with arguments set for April 23, but may now need to expand its inquiry to constitutional dimensions.”

President Trump “is telling people he wants to replace Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross by the end of the year,” CNBC reports.

“Trump favors Linda McMahon to replace Ross in the role, said these people… He is also considering Ray Washburne, whom Trump appointed as president and CEO of Overseas Private Investment Corporation last year.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross now recalls speaking with a White House official about the possibility of adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, NPR reports.

“That’s according to a new court document from the administration’s attorneys that confirms conversations between senior officials during the early months of the Trump administration.”

“This disclosure backtracks Ross’ congressional testimony in March.”

“A federal court ruled that a Cabinet secretary must provide, for the first time in 19 years, a deposition in a civil case,” Politico reports.

“The Cabinet member, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, must answer questions about the inclusion of a citizenship question on the 2020 Census.”

Said U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman: “Applying well-established principles to the unusual facts of these cases, the court concludes that the question is not a close one. Secretary Ross must sit for a deposition because, among other things, his intent and credibility are directly at issue in these cases.”

Forbes: “A multimillion-dollar lawsuit has been quietly making its way through the New York State court system over the last three years, pitting a private equity manager named David Storper against his former boss: Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. The pair worked side by side for more than a decade, eventually at the firm, WL Ross & Co.—where, Storper later alleged, Ross stole his interests in a private equity fund, transferred them to himself, then tried to cover it up with bogus paperwork. Two weeks ago, just before the start of a trial with $4 million on the line, Ross and Storper agreed to a confidential settlement, whose existence has never been reported and whose terms remain secret.”

”It is difficult to imagine the possibility that a man like Ross, who Forbes estimates is worth some $700 million, might steal a few million from one of his business partners. Unless you have heard enough stories about Ross.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “said he would sell all of his remaining stock holdings after the Office of Government Ethics faulted him for continuing to maintain investments — and enter into new ones — that he was required to divest,” the New York Times reports.

“In a strongly worded letter, the ethics office said Mr. Ross’s continued ownership of assets that his ethics agreement required him to divest — and his decision to open short sale positions while serving as Commerce secretary — could have placed him in position to violate criminal conflict of interest laws.”

According to financial-disclosure forms Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross filed after his nomination, Ross has less than $700 million in assets despite repeatedly claiming he’s worth more than $2 billion, Forbes reports.

“And after one month of digging, Forbes is confident it has found the answer: That money never existed. It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004.”

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross “shares business interests with Vladimir Putin’s immediate family, and he failed to clearly disclose those interests when he was being confirmed for his cabinet position,” NBC News reports.

“Ross — a billionaire industrialist — retains an interest in a shipping company, Navigator Holdings, that was partially owned by his former investment company. One of Navigator’s most important business relationships is with a Russian energy firm controlled, in turn, by Putin’s son-in-law and other members of the Russian president’s inner circle.”

New York Times: “Details of these arrangements surfaced in a cache of leaked files from Appleby, one of the world’s largest offshore law firms, which administered some 50 companies and partnerships in the Caymans and elsewhere connected to Mr. Ross.”