Donald Trump Escalates Feud With Chief Justice John Roberts

Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts responded to accusations of bias made by President Donald Trump against Judge Jon Tigar of U.S. District Court in Northern California on Tuesday, telling Trump there are no “Obama judges or Trump judges.”

“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges,” Chief Justice Roberts said in a statement released Wednesday. “What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them. That independent judiciary is something we should all be thankful for.”

Roberts’ move to speak out against the president is unprecedented as until this point, the George W. Bush-era appointee refrained from publicly criticizing the president for his attacks against the judicial branch.

Robert’s statement came as a response to Trump’s comments that Judge Tigar is an “Obama judge” and that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals was a “disgrace.”

Tigar issued a temporary restraining order earlier this month that provoked the president’s ire as the ruling blocked the administration from creating harsher roadblocks for asylum seekers.

In effect, the administration sought to overturn the standing policy allowing immigrants entering the country illegally to present themselves to immigration officials in order to seek asylum.

“Every case gets filed in the 9th Circuit because they know that’s not law. They know that’s not what this country stands for. Every case that gets filed in the 9th Circuit, we get beaten.” Trump said. “People should not be allowed to immediately run to this very friendly circuit and then file their case.”

The president fired back at Roberts shortly after his statement defending the judiciary was published.

“Sorry Chief Justice John Roberts, but you do indeed have ‘Obama judges,’ and they have a much different point of view than the people who are charged with the safety of our country,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “It would be great if the 9th Circuit was indeed an ‘independent judiciary,’ but if it is why… are so many opposing view (on Border and Safety) cases filed there, and why are a vast number of those cases overturned. Please study the numbers, they are shocking.”

“We need protection and security — these rulings are making our country unsafe! Very dangerous and unwise!” Trump added.

Trump continued his exchange with the Chief Justice early Thursday morning, tweeting, “Justice Roberts can say what he wants, but the 9th Circuit is a complete & total disaster. It is out of control, has a horrible reputation, is overturned more than any Circuit in the Country, 79%, & is used to get an almost guaranteed result. Judges must not Legislate Security… and Safety at the Border, or anywhere else. They know nothing about it and are making our Country unsafe. Our great Law Enforcement professionals MUST BE ALLOWED TO DO THEIR JOB! If not there will be only bedlam, chaos, injury and death. We want the Constitution as written!”

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Trump has said that he feels confident that his administration will ultimately win once his case is brought before the Supreme Court.

After preventing or delaying the Obama administration’s judicial appointments, Republicans managed to appoint two justices to the Supreme Court under Trump, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.