The Justice Department on Thursday acknowledged that Steve Bannon , formerly President Donald Trump s top adviser, and Attorney General Jeff Sessions discussed the idea of adding a citizenship question on the 2020 census with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

In a court filing on Thursday, the Justice Department said that Ross recalls Bannon calling him in the spring of 2017 and asking if he would speak to then-Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach about Kobachs idea of adding a question about citizenship in the decennial census.

The filing also said that Ross discussed the possible reinstatement of a citizenship question on the 2020 census with Attorney General Jeff Sessions at subsequent times that spring.

The discovery contradicts a claim Ross, who oversees the Census Bureau, made during his testimony in front of Congress on March 20.

When asked whether the president or anyone in the White House discussed the possibility of adding a citizenship question to the census while testifying to Congress, Ross replied , I am not aware of any such.