EVERY INSTITUTION HAS BEEN CORRUPTED: The Supreme Court Trump Leaks Are Worse Than the Dobbs Leak.
First, this leak is far worse than the Dobbs leak. In Dobbs, one or more people exfiltrated a draft opinion from inside the Court, and somehow that opinion made its way to Politico. (Maybe Jodi Kantor can tell us how that happened!) It was devastating for the draft decision to become public, and it nearly led to the assassination of Justice Kavanaugh. But the aftermath of the leak was swift and overwhelming: the Court was placed on lockdown, and a sweeping investigation was launched to find the culprit(s). But the Trump leaks are systematic and thorough. We have insights of confidential memoranda, detailed conversations at conferences, KBJ’s changed vote, Justice Alito losing the Fischer majority, and information about many Roberts clerks were working on the case. This tapestry would require insights from so many different people. Moreover, all of this comes after the Dobbs leak when Chief Justice Roberts (apparently) put strict limitations on access to Court information. What did all of those measures accomplish? Apparently not much.
Second, and I alluded to this point in my earlier post, Justice Kagan is absent from this reporting. There is absolutely nothing about what she thought or did during these deliberations. There are insights into all of the other eight Justices, but nothing on Kagan. This isn’t new. Back in the day when Biskupic got the scoops, Kagan was also largely absent. I think it likely that Kagan, or at least Kagan surrogates, are behind these leaks. If Kagan is willing to publicly undermine her colleagues in a speech at the Ninth Circuit, why would she do any less off-the-record? Moreover, this entire story is consistent with Kagan’s MO, and describing the Court as bending over backwards for Trump. On that point, I would be willing to place a bet that the three Trump appointees rule against Trump in any election case that comes to the high court. Like in the tax return cases, Justices Gorsuch, Kavanaugh, and Barrett will gladly knock Trump off the scene and declare their independence. Would you take the opposite bet?
That’s probably the goal. Though ruling in a particular way to demonstrate your independence is the antithesis of independence. And doing it out of fear is just another species of corruption.
But if every institution has been corrupted, then every institution is corrupt. And if every institution is corrupt, how much loyalty do they deserve from the citizenry? And if the answer is “not much,” then what right does the current government have to exist?
