As Townhall has covered, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee put their crusade against the U.S. Supreme Court on full display during Tuesday's hearing on "Supreme Court Ethics Reform." Republican members were united in their defense of the Court and its justices, but Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) offered what might just be the strongest defense as he offered a history lesson of such tactics.
Early on in his remarks, Kennedy reminded that "the sad truth is that some--not all--some of my Democratic colleagues have been on a crusade to undermine the United States Supreme Court's legitimacy and the credibility of the federal judiciary for years. Today’s hearing is just the next chapter in their federal power grab, and they’ve invited cameras."
Justice Clarence Thomas was and has been a particular target, following a heavily criticized report published last month in ProPublica to do with ethics concerns and financial disclosures.
While Kennedy referred to "the high-tech lynching" of Thomas, it didn't start with him. "It started with the savage destruction of Judge Robert Bork’s nomination, which even The Washington Post, for God's sakes, The Washington Post," criticized.
The filibuster was "weaponized" against Miguel Estrada's nomination, who could have been the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court, and Democrats "demonized" Janice Rogers Brown, "a very fine person." She could have been the first black woman on the Court.
Then, Democrats threatened to pack the Court. This came after three of President Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominees were confirmed, which "the loon wing of the Democratic Party loathed."
"The political threats from some of the highest officials in our government fueled physical threats against the justices, and we know that," Kennedy reminded. He had begun his remarks by speaking to how then Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer on March 4, 2020 threatened Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh if they didn't vote a certain way.
As he went through Schumer's threats, the senator also called to mind what the conservative justices have endured since someone leaked the draft opinion of the Dobbs v. Jackson case which the Court used to overturn Roe v. Wade. While the decision, written by Justice Samuel Alito, wasn't officially handed down last June, someone had leaked it last May. The hearing took place on the one-year anniversary of the leak.
"'You have released the whirlwind,' the Democratic leader said. Incensed protestors took to the streets, not outside Congress, not outside the Court, but outside the homes--the homes--of Justices Roberts, Kavanaugh, Thomas and Barrett. Federal law prohibits this intimidation, but the Biden Justice Department allowed it," Kennedy reminded.
"'You will pay the price,' the Democratic leader said. In that spirit, angry protestors publicized the location of the school that Justice Barrett’s children attend," Kennedy continued.
"'You won’t know what hit you,' the Democratic leader said. A man with a gun, ammunition, knife, pepper spray and zip ties went to the justice’s home to assassinate him. Actually, his stated goal was to murder three justices," Kennedy also reminded, speaking to that fate that could have befallen Justice Kavanaugh and two other conservative justices.
When it comes to why Democrats are going about engaging in such behavior, Kennedy offered "that's worth asking," but also pointed out "you don’t need to be Einstein’s cousin to figure it out." It's because "they aren’t getting their way. They aren't getting their way. So, they want to change the rules, but the Constitution isn’t a game, folks. And now, some Democrats want Congress to override the Supreme Court of the United States and apply rules to its justices."
Kennedy also mentioned the separation of powers, as Chief Justice John Roberts did when declining Chairman Dick Durbin's (D-IL) unusual invitation that he appear before the committee for their Tuesday hearing. It's "blackletter law" that "the constitutional separation of powers means that no branch of the federal government can dictate how another should govern itself," Kennedy said, which he reminded "is to protect the people from abuse" and so "that the justices would decide cases impartially."
The framers wanted justices to be able to decide their cases "without fear of the kind of retaliation that fills the pages of some--not all, but some--left-of-Lenin Democrats' playbook," Kennedy continued, going for a particularly blistering line against some of his Senate colleagues.
The senator painted the picture for just how ridiculous it is for Senate Democrats to want to go after the Court by asking "do my colleagues want the United States Supreme Court to tell Congress how to police itself?"
Further, even if Senate Democrats were to go through with a code of ethics for the Court, "the court could rightly rule that code unconstitutional," since "none of the laws we make here can trump the United States Constitution."
To perfectly sum up the political crusade that Democrats are on, Kennedy declared that "not only is this Democratic proposal unconstitutional, it is unnecessary. The attacks on conservative justices are targeted. They’re exaggerated. The alarmism is affected. The danger isn’t that rogue justices are operating without ethics. It’s that Democrats aren’t winning every fight and they find that reality intolerable."
"I've been disappointed by Supreme Court decisions too," Kennedy shared, pointing out one of the facts of life. "But my Democratic colleagues should fill out a hurt feelings report and move on, for the sake of the Constitution." Going on to specifically mention Democrats' concerns with Thomas, and how "we can acknowledge" the importance of financial disclosures, Kennedy also reminded "but we can do that without maligning each justice's motives and the entire institution's ability for God's sakes."
Senator John Kennedy perfectly sums up Democrat attacks on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court:
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) May 2, 2023
"My democratic colleagues should fill out a hurt feelings report and move on, for the sake of the Constitution!" pic.twitter.com/daavj5BrkP
Not only has Justice Thomas amended his financial disclosures due to inadvertent admissions, but so did the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and former Justice Stephen Breyer. Further, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, amended her disclosures multiple times, but no Senate Democrat brought that up.
"Not one of my colleagues here walked into her hearings with buckets of mud that they've thrown against Justice Thomas," Kennedy reminded as he pounded the table for emphasis, "not one, nor should we have."
Kennedy also called out Democrats' "media allies" for having "hyped up attempted hit pieces on every Republican-appointed Supreme Court justice except for one" on ridiculous matters.
When it comes to a lack of hit pieces on Justice Amy Coney Barrett--who has been smeared in other ways in the past--Kennedy had some advice for her. "Justice Barrett, I hope if you're listening you don't have library books overdue."
"Today’s hearing is an excuse to sling more mud at an institution that some--not all--some Democrats don’t like because they can’t control it 100 percent of the time, and that's a fact and everybody in this hearing room knows that," Kennedy said to close his remarks. "Until they get the outcome they want in every case, I fear they are going to continue to slander it in an effort to take control of it," though Kennedy added "I pray to God I am wrong."