Congressional Democrats use classified documents ruling to promote Supreme Court reform
Following Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional, some Democrats seized on the opportunity to call for Supreme Court reform.
In her ruling, Cannon referenced a footnote from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurring opinion in the Trump immunity that supported this novel legal theory. Some Democrats have pounced on it.
Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson – a veteran Democrat in Congress – said that Thomas “used his concurring opinion [in the Trump immunity case] to publicly provide a roadmap for that issue to return to him and his soulmates.”
He went as far as to say that that as Cannon “auditions to join Thomas on SCOTUS, Thomas, his wife and the others get more goodies from the oligarchs.”
In response to Cannon’s ruling, Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse – a Democrat on the frontlines of Supreme Court reform – said “from the creepy billionaires to Clarence Thomas, from Thomas to Cannon, the message and desired result is delivered. Foul winds are blowing.”
Democrats’ efforts to pass Supreme Court reform have intensified in recent months as the conservative-majority Court rules in ways they disagree with and new allegations of misconduct arise. Whitehouse, among others, have called for an enforceable code of ethics for the justices. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced articles of impeachment against Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito. Whitehouse and Sen. Ron Wyden called for Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate these two justices.
Following Judge Aileen Cannon’s ruling in Trump’s classified documents case, some Democrats publicly denounced the decision.
Here are some of the reactions so far: