Republican Sens. John Kennedy (LA) and Lindsey Graham (SC), during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court ethics, criticized Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer (NY) for reportedly threatening conservative Justices last year, which was allowed under ethics rules at the time.
Those same left-wing outlets have launched similar attacks in recent weeks going after Justice Neil Gorsuch and even Chief Justice John Roberts, who is seen as a moderate conservative who votes with the liberal justices on several key issues.
The Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Supreme Court ethics came after left-wing reporters criticized Justice Clarence Thomas for accepting trips from a wealthy friend.
However, as both Kennedy and Graham noted, Schumer told the justices they would “pay the price” after a ruling on June Medical Services v. Russo, a case involving an abortion provider.
Kennedy said:
I remember the Democratic leaders’ words of March 4, 2020, on the steps of the United States Supreme Court like they were yesterday. “I want to tell you Gorsuch,” he said, not “Justice Gorsuch,” but “Gorsuch.” “I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.” Wow. Just wow. I think Matthew 12:36 is correct, “for by thy words you shall be justified and by thy words you shall be condemned.”
“Now the sad truth is that some, not all, some of my Democratic colleagues have been on a crusade to undermine the United States Supreme Court’s legitimacy and the credibility of the federal judiciary for years,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy also linked Schumer’s comments to the rise in left-wing protests outside the justices’ homes, a felony under federal law, for which Attorney General Merrick Garland has made no arrests or initiated any prosecutions.
Kennedy continued:
“You have released the whirlwind,” the Democratic leader said. And since, protesters took to the streets, not outside Congress, not outside of the Court, but outside the homes of Justice Roberts, Justice Kavanaugh, Justice Thomas, and Justice Barrett. Federal law prohibits this intimidation. But the Biden Justice Department will allow it. “You will pay the price,” the Democratic leader said. In that spirit, angry protesters publicized the location of the school that Justice Barrett’s children attend.
Kennedy also called attention to the failed assassination attempt against Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“‘You won’t know what hit you,’ the Democratic leader said. A man with a gun, ammunition, knife, pepper spray, and zip ties went to a justice’s home to assassinate him,” Kennedy said. “Actually his stated goal was to murder three justices. Not so suddenly, the ends justify the means for activists. Even inside the Court itself.”
Watch: Lindsey Graham Rips Democrats over Effort to Delegitimize Court
Graham pointed out that the recent attacks against Thomas conveniently left out the trips that the Court’s liberal justices took that were paid for by other institutions.
“The New York Times did not tell us about Justice Sotomayor’s travel to Florence, Italy; they did not tell us that Justice Kennedy took a three-week multi-trip to Salzburg, Austria; San Francisco; Aspen, Colorado,” Graham said.
He continued:
Justice Sotomayor and Justice Ginsburg traveled to Florence, Italy, on the dime of the New York University. Justice Jackson was reimbursed by the University of California Berkeley in 2016 and 2014 for traveling to the Aspen Institute. Chief Justice Roberts was reimbursed for travel to London to teach a class on the history of the Supreme Court to students at the New England School of Law. So universities throughout this country have been paying for trips of judges. But if you read the New York Times, you wouldn’t know that would you?
“So Mr. Chairman, from our point of view, this is not going to work. You can write all the articles you want to write; you can take all the shots at the conservative justices that you want to take. You can picket before their houses, and it’s not going to stop people from doing their job,” Graham said.
“This is an insane effort by the Democratic Left to destroy the legitimacy of the Roberts Court. It’s put people at risk. It’s put their personal safety at risk,” Graham concluded. “If you want to talk about making the Court a better institution, I’ll be glad to work with you in that regard. If you want to talk about destroying the Court, count me out.”
Jordan Dixon-Hamilton is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jdixonhamilton@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter.