Chief Justice Breaks With Predecessor, Attends SOTU | Proof Of Trump Committing Bribery?
February 5, 2020
CHECKING THE GUEST LIST
|At last night’s State of the Union, CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS was in attendance, despite the fact that he’s still presiding over PRESIDENT TRUMP’S impeachment trial. His decision to attend contrasts with CHIEF JUSTICE WILLIAM REHNQUIST’S decision to stay home for PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON’S SOTU address when he was presiding over Clinton’s impeachment. JUSTICES ELENA KAGAN, NEIL GORSUCH, and BRETT KAVANAUGH were also in attendance last night.
ARE YOU COMING OR WHAT
|Gabe Roth with Fix the Court told Kevin Daley with the Daily Caller that we would be wise not to read too much into which Supreme Court justices do or don’t attend the State of the Union. He said, “I wouldn’t fault any of them, whatever their motives, for attending or not attending…I actually feel worse for the members of the service who go in full military dress and are also expected to sit like potted plants, though it seems as if their attendance is not optional.”
WHAT ABOUT US
|Marcia Coyle with The National Law Journal takes a look at two upcoming cases before SCOTUS which challenge mandatory bar memberships and dues. Justices are being asked to “extend the reach of their landmark 2018 First Amendment ruling that invalidated ‘fair share’ union fees to include the legal arena.”
A SHOW TRIAL
|“I am a Republican and former federal prosecutor who voted for Donald Trump in 2016. But I was deeply dismayed by the way his lawyers defended his misbegotten dealings with Ukraine during the Senate impeachment trial. Unlike Mr. Trump’s supporters, I believe the president might well be guilty of breaking the law.” That’s James D. Harmon Jr. arguing in The New York Times that the evidence against PRESIDENT TRUMP suggests he has committed bribery, a felony under law. “Despite all this, the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday appears all but certain to acquit Mr. Trump. The nation has been denied the chance to witness the impeachment managers and Mr. Trump’s lawyers fully interrogate or defend his behavior. The Senate had a constitutional duty to hold a real trial. Instead we got a show trial.”