Roberts defends judiciary, rebuking Trump

WASHINGTON — Chief Justice John Roberts defended the independence and integrity of the federal judiciary Wednesday, issuing a statement rebuking President Donald Trump for his criticism of a judge who had ruled against the administration’s asylum policy.

The chief justice seemed particularly offended by Trump’s assertion that Judge Jon S. Tigar, of the U.S. District Court in San Francisco, was “an Obama judge.”

Roberts said that was a profound misunderstanding of the judicial role.

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” he said in a statement. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Later in the afternoon, the president responded.

“Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,” he said, before again lashing out at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco.

Roberts issued his statement in response to a request for comment from The Associated Press about Trump’s remarks Tuesday concerning the asylum ruling, which ordered the administration to resume accepting asylum claims from migrants no matter where or how they entered the United States.

Trump also had called the 9th Circuit a lawless disgrace and threatened unspecified retaliation.

“That’s not law,” he said of the court’s rulings. “Every case that gets filed in the 9th Circuit we get beaten.”

“It’s a disgrace,” Trump said.

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges.” – CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS