Court reform advocates urge Senate Judiciary for hearing with Chief Justice Roberts

WASHINGTON (CN) — More than two dozen judicial advocacy organizations penned a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee’s top lawmaker Monday urging him to invite Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before Congress about his role in the court’s controversial presidential immunity ruling.

The move comes just a day before the Senate’s legal affairs panel is set to hold its first hearing on the July ruling, which concluded that former President Donald Trump and future presidents are immune from prosecution for actions that fall within their core duties, as well as “official actions” of office.

And the coalition of 33 organizations, led by Court Accountability and Indivisible, made their plea just a week after a New York Times report revealed that Roberts had taken an interest in convincing the high court to take on presidential immunity — and that he had suggested the justices’ ruling would favor Trump.

“[W]e believe that the chief justice’s testimony is crucial to understanding key procedural and ethical concerns about the court’s operations and is necessary to inform legislation to bring needed reform to the Court,” the advocacy groups told committee chair Senator Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat.

The letter cited “troubling” circumstances surrounding the immunity ruling, such as the Supreme Court’s delay in handing down its decision, which advocates argued hamstrung the lower court handling Trump’s election interference case. Thanks to that slow pace, which the groups blamed on the court’s conservative majority, the former president is unlikely to face trial until after the November election.

“The Times reporting makes clear that the court’s decisions on that timing were driven by politics from the outset,” the groups said in the letter.

The advocates also accused Roberts of “prejudging” the immunity case, pointing to a February memo from the chief justice published by The New York Times in which he wrote that it was “likely” the Supreme Court would take a different approach to the issue than lower courts.

Roberts has previously balked at the idea of testifying before Congress, arguing that such a move would threaten constitutional separation of powers. But the court reform groups argued that the chief justice himself has acknowledged Congress’ authority to collect information on Supreme Court operations and processes, citing statements he made during a 2019 case challenging subpoenas for Trump’s tax returns.

“We encourage you not to bend to [Roberts’] baseless and self-serving claims of immunity from congressional oversight, which are just as destructive to constitutional checks-and-balances principles as Trump v. United States ,” the advocates told Durbin.

A spokesperson for Durbin declined to comment on whether he would consider inviting the chief justice to testify.

Scrutiny of Roberts comes as other members of the high court’s nine-seat bench have come under fire for ethical lapses. Justice Samuel Alito faced questions this year over reports that an upside-down American flag — a symbol co-opted by election deniers — flew over his Virginia home in the days following the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

That incident, and a separate flag-flying scandal, spurred lawmakers to call on Alito to recuse himself from election-related Supreme Court cases. He did not.

Meanwhile, the panel is scheduled Tuesday to hear from experts on the immunity ruling, including former deputy solicitor general and counsel to the Watergate special prosecutor Philip Lacovara, as well as former Attorney General Michael Mukasey.

Democrats have also unveiled legislation aimed at walking back the Supreme Court decision. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer in August introduced the “No Kings Act,” which would affirm that presidents and vice presidents do not enjoy immunity for actions that violate U.S. criminal law. The measure would also clarify that Congress gets the final word on prosecuting a former president.

Schumer argued at the time that Democrats have a “very strong argument” to support their efforts to limit the Supreme Court’s powers via statute. As of Friday, though, lawmakers have yet to bring the No Kings Act up for a vote.

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