BRAWL RISE!
Trump, chief justice in war of words
President Trump and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts engaged in a public feud on Wednesday — with Roberts calling out Trump for slamming the federal judiciary and the president doubling down on his claim that certain judges are biased against his policies.
It started when Roberts took exception to the president’s description of a California jurist who earlier this week ruled against Trump’s new hardline migrant-asylum policy as an “Obama judge.”
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them,” the chief justice said in a statement. “That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”
It didn’t long for Trump to reply on Twitter.
“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. It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an ‘independent judiciary,’ ” Trump tweeted from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
“[B]ut if it is why are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking. We need protection and security - these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!”
Roberts rebuke was the the first time the leader of the federal judiciary has offered even a hint of criticism of the commander-in-chief, who has repeatedly blasted federal judges who have ruled against him.
Judge Jon Tigar, of the San Francisco-based 9th Circuit on Tuesday issued a temporary restraining order saying that Congress has clearly allowed immigrants to apply for asylum regardless of how they entered the country.
Trump had ordered that migrants could seek asylum only at authorized entry points.
“This was an Obama judge, and I’ll tell you what, it’s not going to happen like this anymore,” Trump said after Tigar’s ruling.
The Justice Department later said it was “absurd” that Tigar allowed civil-rights groups “to stop the entire federal government from acting so that illegal aliens can receive a government benefit to which they are not entitled.”
Trump also ripped the 9th Circuit, which has consistently overturned his policies.
“Everybody that wants to sue the US — almost — they file their case in the 9th Circuit, and it means an automatic loss. No matter what you do, no matter how good your case is. And the 9th Circuit is really something we have to take a look at because it’s not fair.
He added, “It’s a disgrace, in my opinion, what happens with the Ninth Circuit. We will win that case in the Supreme Court of the United States” — which, of course, is presided over by Roberts.