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September 28, 2017 10:58 AM UTC

Neil Gorsuch Under Fire For Trump Hotel Speech

  • 30 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Justice Neil Gorsuch.

As the Denver Post’s Mark Matthews reports, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is speaking today at a conservative political group’s event at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C.–a speech generating the first ethics controversy of what’s expected to be many decades on the nation’s highest court for Colorado’s most polite “radical son.”

It’s not clear what Gorsuch will say at the invite-only event, though organizers with The Fund for American Studies, a conservative group, said they expect he’ll talk for about 30 minutes on topics such as the constitution and American exceptionalism.

The speech, though, isn’t what is attracting an outcry — as there’s a long tradition of Supreme Court justices accepting invitations to speak before groups across the political spectrum.

Rather, it’s the setting inside the Trump International Hotel — a hangout for hangers-on of the administration just a few blocks from the White House. Critics contend Gorsuch’s presence there sends the wrong signal… [Pols emphasis]

Here’s an excerpt from the letter asking Gorsuch not to speak at the Trump hotel:

As you may know, the Trump International Hotel is owned, through LLCs and a revocable trust, by President Trump. This creates several ethical conflicts associated with your appearance there:

Political activity. Under Canon 5 of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges, a judge should refrain from “political activity.” President Trump has declared his candidacy for re-election in 2020. Consequently, your appearance at the Trump International Hotel creates the appearance of a political endorsement. However implicit, and however you may not desire to create such an impression, the appearance of such an endorsement is why you should not appear at a hotel owned by, and named after, a candidate for political office. This is not comparable to appearing at the White House, or appearing with the president at an official presidential event.

Subject of pending litigation. Because the hotel is owned by the president, it is currently the subject of several legal disputes that could come before you. These include three separate federal lawsuits involving the Constitution’s Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause…

Judicial imprimatur for profiting from the presidency. Setting aside the legal questions associated with the hotel, the fact that the president is using his office to enhance the booking and room rates at a for-profit hotel for his own personal profit presents an unprecedented corruption of the presidency. Your participation in an event that will involve payments from the organizers to the hotel, and from there to the president himself, is inconsistent with the high ethical standards for an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. More broadly, your appearing at the hotel that has become one of the foremost symbols of the for-profit presidency is inconsistent with judicial independence and integrity.

The letter goes on to cite Trump’s recent extreme statements on a variety of issues as further reason to not give the Trump International Hotel any degree of “judicial imprimatur.” The fact is that the circumstances of Gorsuch’s confirmation, coming after an unprecedented year of stalling on the nomination made by Trump’s predecessor, have already given his appointment an unwanted air of scandal. By appearing at an event at a Trump hotel already mired in controversy, Gorsuch risks tying himself even more closely to a President likely to have a lot of legal action in his near future. And not the good kind.

The only thing we can add to that for today is another word about how commendable it was for Sen. Michael Bennet to vote against Gorsuch’s confirmation–factoring Republican treachery against Merrick Garland as well as Gorsuch’s hard-right judicial record against tremendous local pressure to support a fellow Coloradan. This won’t be the last chance to favorably contrast Bennet’s difficult decision with the full-on advocacy for Gorsuch from Colorado Democrats like Gov. Bill Ritter. Since Gorsuch will still be on the court when Bennet and Ritter are old men, it will be an evergreen topic.

But every time something like scandalous happens with Gorsuch, Bennet’s conscience will be clear. Ritter’s, not so much.

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30 thoughts on “Neil Gorsuch Under Fire For Trump Hotel Speech”

  1. Ut oh, Pols….you shouldn't have gone there. You're baiting Ahab with you shout out for Senator Bennet.

    And I'm sure he will work Chris Ciliza into his rant.

  2. our newest Supreme Court Justice just making sure the President earns a nice profit from his presidency. I must not ignore RnR (is that you, AC?): Bennet voted against him cuz it didn't count. He introduced him to the Senate when it did count – this is the key to being Senator-for-Life. Oh, and a friggin' coward.

    (give me some time to figure out CC's input…..)

     

      1. Zappy's solution for Democrats to behave exactly like Republicans. Speaking out and voting against their bills is not enough. They have to be vilified personally and any semblance of common courtesy (like introducing Gorsuch to the committee) must yield to ideological fanaticism. Any eye for an eye leads to a world of blind people.

        Bennet opposed Gorsuch when it was appropriate (when it was time to vote) and showed some common courtesy when it was warranted.

        If you weren’t doing your happy dance last November as moderate Democrats running in red states were losing – like Evan Bayh – we wouldn’t have Gorsuch on the Supreme Court to begin with.

        Pull your head out of your ass, Zappy.

        1. I heard Bennett may be planning to hand out Halloween candy to all children that come to his house this year — not just the children of liberals?!? WTF??

          1. 1) Chris Matthews had the perfect formula for becoming a senator for life. I’ll post when it shows up in the Hardball transcript. I know MB knows of it because he’s executing it to perfection.

            2) (Today’s) Democrats never exact payback or revenge. They’re above that kind of thing. 

            3) I’ll stop urging Jason to remove his cranium from backside if you stop urging me. See, I haven’t seen him yet?

    2. Bennet introduced Gorsuch because that is tradition. He voted against filibuster because it didn't matter and he wanted make a statement about the process. He voted against Gorsuch's confirmation because that was the right thing to do.

      That's it. EOM.

      1. Everyone who doesn't follow the party line gets bashed on Colorado Pols. This is a disgusting partisan hell hole. The only reason I come here is to make sure there is some voice of reason for the unsuspecting readers to find.

        Keep fighting the power Zappatero. I don't agree with anything you say but I'll defend your right to say it.

        1. That's a good one Moldy.  You can barely form coherent sentences. You and Ahab are the two shrill extremists on here. 

          And you, Moldy come here to repeat what Chuck and Dave tell you.  Verbatim.   

          Also, you want Millions to lose their healthcare but won't tell us your medical issues.  I think you should since you want to play God with other people's lives.

        2. You've got every "right" to choose to show yourself to be a lame-brained fuckhead at every single opportunity, Fluffy . . . 

          . . . and you exercise your "right" daily (. . . why is another issue, but obviously there ain't nobody in this here hell hole stopping you, or even slowing you down). 

           

  3. The notion Justice Gorsuch's speech to the Fund for American Studies at the Trump hotel equates to an endorsement of President Trump's bid for reelection in 2020 and therefore is an act of judicial misconduct is absurd on its face.

    1. Yep.  But the notion that Gorsuch is willing to speak at a venue that touches upon a Presidential emoluments issue that more conceivably could come before the SCOTUS may be more akin to judicial misconduct . . . 

      . . . I'm sure NG can be counted upon to recuse himself should such a case ever be brought?!?

    1. Now, now….McConnell screwed Garland out of the appointment fair and square. Mitch established quite a precedent there. 

      Payback will be a bitch when the shoe is on the other foot.

  6. Gorsuch is a Trump nominee therefore he is the most radical extremist that Trump could find.  This guy is not on the court to call balls and strikes in an impartial manner.

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