WASHINGTON (Reuters) - TikTok and parent company ByteDance asked a U.S. appeals court on Monday to reject the Justice Department's bid to file part of its legal case in secret that defends a law seeking to force the divestiture of TikTok's U.S. assets by Jan. 19 or impose a ban.

The Justice Department wants court approval "to file more than 15% of its brief and 30% of its evidence in secret," Chinese parent company ByteDance and TikTok said. If they "are unable to review the government's evidence," they said, "they will be unable to rebut contentions that are factually incorrect -- let alone explain to the court why the government's arguments and evidence are legally insufficient."