The Supreme Court was hit by a flurry of damaging new leaks Sunday as a series of confidential memos written by the chief justice were revealed by The New York Times.
The court’s Chief Justice John Roberts was clear to his fellow justices in February: He wanted the court to take up a case weighing Donald Trump’s right to presidential immunity—and he seemed inclined to protect the former president.
“I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently,” Roberts wrote to his Supreme Court peers, according to a private memo obtained by the *Times. *He was referencing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision to allow the case to move forward.
Roberts took an unusual level of involvement in this and other cases that ultimately benefited Trump, according to the Times— his handling of the cases surprised even some other justices on the high court, across ideological lines. As president, Trump appointed three of the members of its current conservative supermajority.
That’s what they said last time.
At this point the majority has moved so far right they are beyond conservative and well into autocratic and flirting with authoritarian.
That is to say there may be conservatives who are willing to blow the whistle to try to keep this stink off of themselves.
Last time it was to force a vote they wanted to go right, which it did.
This one is actually embarrassing to the court.
The news has been embarrassing to the court for a few years now.