The Supreme Court was hit by a flurry of damaging new leaks Sunday as a series of confidential memos written by the chief justice were revealed by
The New York Times.
The court's Chief Justice
John Roberts was clear to his fellow justices in February: He wanted the court to take up a case weighing
Donald Trump's right to presidential immunity—and he seemed inclined to protect the former president.
"I think it likely that we will view the separation of powers analysis differently," Roberts wrote to his
Supreme Court peers, according to a private
memo obtained by the
Times. He was referencing the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to allow the case to move forward.
Roberts took an unusual level of involvement in this and other cases that ultimately benefited Trump, according to the
Times—his handling of the cases surprised even some other justices on the high court, across ideological lines. As president, Trump appointed three of the members of its current conservative supermajority.
Roberts also took charge of the court's ruling that declared the government went too far in charging those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
He had initially assigned the case to
Samuel Alito but abruptly took it over himself days after the
Times revealed Alito's wife Martha-Ann hung an upside-down U.S. flag—an emblem of the "Stop the Steal" movement, and propagated by some Jan. 6 rioters—outside his home, according to the
Times. It was unclear whether the two episodes were linked; none of the justices answered the
Times' questions.
