WASHINGTON, DC - APRIL 17: George T. Conway III, husband of White House Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, attends the 139th Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn of the White House April 17, 2017 in Washington, DC. The White House said 21,000 people are expected to attend the annual tradition of rolling colored eggs down the White House lawn that was started by President Rutherford B. Hayes in 1878. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Members of the ultra-conservative legal group, the Federalist Society, announced Wednesday that they were forming an anti-Trump subgroup within the organization calling itself the Checks and Balances.
The group includes high ranking members of the Bush administration like former Bush lawyer John Bellinger, former Acting Attorney General Peter Keisler and former Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.
Most notably however, George Conway, husband of top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, has emerged as a key figure and likely leader of the group.
Conway has been known to be critical of the Trump administration, a fact made plain by his recent New York Times op-ed where he called President Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as Acting Attorney General “unconstitutional.”
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“We are a group of attorneys who would traditionally be considered conservative or libertarian. We believe in the rule of law, the power of truth, the independence of the criminal justice system, the imperative of individual rights, and the necessity of civil discourse,” reads the group’s mission statement.
Ten others were named in the list of Checks and Balances members published in mission statement.
Checks and Balances’ announcement came just a day before the annual Federalist Society meeting in Washington D.C., a move meant to send a message to and encourage recruitment of the members of the larger group.
“You go fishing where the fish are,” said Jonathan Adler, a law professor and member of Checks and Balances told the Times.
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Over the course of the last two years, the Federalist Society developed a very strong relationship with President Trump. The organization’s recommendations played a large part in the president’s decisions to nominate Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
Regardless of this, members of Checks and Balances believe that the Trump administration poses a danger to the fundamental nature and security of the Constitution.
Bellinger, Conway and other members of the conservative subgroup hope their presence at the Federalist Society meeting will encourage others to speak plainly about the current administration without fear of retaliation.
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