“John Roberts Gave Us Trump” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse
Gaslit Nation Transcript 21 October 2020 “John Roberts Gave Us Trump” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: ... to me, pretty big deal. I've never seen this around any court that I've ever been involved with, where there's this much dark money, and this much influence being used. Here's how The Washington Post summed it up: "This is a conservative activist, behind-the-scenes campaign to remake the nation's courts, and it's a $250 million dark money operation." $250 million is a lot of money to spend if you're not getting anything for it, so that raises the question, what are they getting for it? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: Well, I showed the slide earlier on the Affordable Care Act, and on Obergefell, and on Roe versus Wade. That's where they lost. But with another judge, that could change. That's where the contest is. That's where the Republican Party platform tells us to look at how they want judges to rule. To reverse Roe, to reverse the Obamacare cases, and to reverse Obergefell and take away gay marriage. That is their stated objective and plan. Why not take them at their word? Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse: But there's another piece of it. And that is, not what's ahead of us, but what's behind us. What's behind us is now, 80 cases, Mr. Chairman, 80 cases under Chief Justice Roberts that have these characteristics: One, they were decided five to four, by a bare majority. Two, the five to four majority was partisan, in the sense that not one Democratic appointee joined the five.
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