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 byĀ The New York Times.

The courtā€™s Chief JusticeĀ John Roberts was clear to his fellow justices in February: He wanted the court to take up a case weighingĀ Donald Trumpā€™s right to presidential immunityā€”and he seemed inclined to protect the former president.

ā€œI think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently,ā€ Roberts wrote to hisĀ Supreme CourtĀ peers, according to a privateĀ memoĀ obtained by theĀ *Times.Ā *He was referencing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appealsā€™Ā 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 theĀ Timesā€” 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.

  • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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    2 months ago

    At least one of them (maybe Jackson but Iā€™m probably wrong on who) specifically warned about political parties

    • frezik
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      2 months ago

      It was Washington. However, Washington also tended to side with Hamilton against Jefferson in practice, and those two would quickly form political parties that are the ancestors of the modern ones.

      The ā€œFounding Fathersā€ were far from a monolithic block of philosopher kings like American mythmaking likes to portray.

      Duvergerā€™s Law was developed in the 1950s and 60s, so it wasnā€™t understood way back then.

    • MutilationWave@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Yeah Andrew Jackson was not a founding father. He was a person who owned hundreds of human beings as slaves and conducted genocide against the native population. He was a total piece of shit really. Trump ordered Jacksonā€™s portrait hung in the oval office during his presidency.

      • HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org
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        2 months ago

        You think Trump knew him as anything but ā€œthe face on the $20 noteā€?

        If he had gotten office in 1914, heā€™d have put Grover Clevelandā€™s portrait up for the same reason.

        • frezik
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          2 months ago

          Trump knows Jackson, actually. Jackson is one of his favorite Presidents. Jackson was also a raging asshole, so that makes sense.

          That Jackson portrait that was hung up during Trumpā€™s tenure? They made sure it was there when Trump met with Native American leaders, and the intended insult was heard loud and clear.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        You arenā€™t wrong on any count but it should be noted most of the founding fathers were slavers and conducted genocide on the native population. Jackson was just particularly shameless about both whereas someone like Jefferson was clearly uncomfortable with slavery, just not as much as he was with the idea of not keeping his fellow human beings, some of whom were his biological family, as slaves.