Texas’ ‘Supreme Tweeter’ on Trump’s high court list
Outspoken justice has been frequent critic of GOP candidate
AUSTIN — One holds forth as the Tweet King of the GOP presidential campaign. The other has been declared the Tweeter Laureate of Texas.
But on Wednesday, when Donald Trump included Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett, an outspoken conservative, among the 11 jurists on his short list for appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court to replace the late Justice Antonin Scalia — should Trump get the chance — the presumptive GOP nominee, perhaps, hadn’t seen @JusticeWillett’s tweets.
Like this one from a year ago: “Donald Trump haiku— Who would the Donald Name to #SCOTUS? The mind reels.
*weeps—can’t finish tweet*”
Or this one from last Aug. 6: “With malice toward none, with charity for all … except for all the losers, clowns, and dummies.”
—President Donald Lincoln”
Or this one from Aug. 27: “Can’t wait till Trump rips off his face Mission Impossible-style & reveals a laughing Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”
On April 7, he mocked “Darth Trump” with a “Star Wars” photo: “We’ll rebuild the Death Star. It’ll be amazing, believe me. And the rebels will pay for it.”
With a photo showing of a scared airplane passenger from a classic “Twilight Zone” episode, Willett tweeted March 10: “That time @williamshatner flew Trump Airlines.”
Willett is a close friend and former colleague of Ted Cruz, the conservative Texas senator Trump forced
out of the presidential race two weeks ago and who has declined to endorse the likely nominee.
Trump campaign officials had no comment Wednesday on the Texas justice’s Twitter slaps, but U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican who is advising Trump, said the candidates on the short list had been selected because they were top-rated jurists, not because they are close with Trump.
“I doubt he cares” about Willett’s tweets, Sessions said. “We want justices who follow the Constitution.”
“I respect all, and personally know several, of the judges listed,” Willett said in a statement issued Wednesday evening. “Being named alongside them for any purpose is a rich honor. They are exceptional jurists, and importantly, over half have served or are serving in the state judiciary, where most American justice is dispensed.”
Others on the list are: Steven Colloton and Raymond Gruender, both of the U.S. 8th Circuit; Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit; William Pryor of the 11th Circuit; Diane Sykes of the 7th Circuit: and Raymond Kethledge of the 6th Circuit; and four state Supreme Court justices: Allison Eid of Colorado; Joan Larsen of Michigan; Thomas Lee of Utah; and David Stras of Minnesota.
Lengthy résumé
A native of Kaufman County, Willett and his sister were raised by their mother after his father died at age 40. He was the family’s first college graduate, earning a triple-major degree at Baylor University — economics, finance and public administration — before getting his law degree at Duke University.
After working as a law clerk for Judge Jerre Stockton Williams on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Willett practiced employment and labor law for three years at the Austin office of prominent law firm Haynes Boone before going to work for then-Gov. George Bush as director of research and special projects.
When Bush was elected president, Willett went to Washington as a special assistant to the president and a director in the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. He later was named a U.S. deputy attorney general working to coordinate the selection and confirmation of federal judges.
Connected with Cruz
In 2003, he returned to Texas as the chief legal counsel for newly elected Attorney General Greg Abbott, where he became a confidant of the future governor and Cruz, who was the solicitor general.
Willett helped with select litigation, including efforts that Cruz was involved with to protect the Ten Commandments monument on the statehouse grounds and to successfully rebuff a legal challenge to the Pledge of Allegiance because it included the term “Under God.”
When Gov. Rick Perry appointed Willett to the Texas Supreme Court in 2005, he extolled his adherence to the rule of law and the Constitution, as well as his conservative values.
Since he joined the court, Willett has become known as a prolific author of majority opinions on the GOP-controlled high court, and for his sense of humor. He has also remained close to Abbott, as one of the select few who are invited to occasional nighttime poker games at the Governor’s Mansion.
His humor, frequent pop culture references, and use of gifs and memes have won him more than 39,000 followers and prompted more than a few stories about the use of social media by public officials.
On Twitter, the justice whom others refer to as “Supreme Tweeter” has a penchant for speaking his mind, for his devotion to his wife and three young children and for his faith.
And, for his more-than-occasional tweets about the U.S. Supreme Court.
One recent one featured a frantic man fanning himself: “6 weeks left: abortion, immigration/executive power, affirmative action, etc.”
Pulls no punches
Last month, he posted a photo of a soft-drink dispenser at the U.S. Supreme Court: “No @drpepper. CRUEL & UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT!”
On others, he made note of aging U.S. Supreme Court justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg (83), Anthony Kennedy (80) and Stephen Breyer (78) … Legacy with a capital L.”
Willett has pulled no punches as he trolled The Donald, who made blunt personal tweets his weapon of choice in the GOP campaign.
“Trump can only dream of a Sunday this glamorous and classy,” the justice tweeted a few days ago, with a photo of a van loaded with bags of black mulch.