Gorsuch: Trump’s Judiciary Attacks ‘Disheartening’

Judge Neil Gorsuch told Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) that President Trump’s recent attacks on federal judges are “demoralizing” and “disheartening.” Gorsuch, the president’s nominee to fill the U.S. Supreme Court’s vacant seat, made the comments during a private meeting in preparation for confirmation hearings. Trump shot back on Twitter, saying that Blumenthal misrepresented what Gorsuch said. A member of the Supreme Court nomination team who escorted Gorsuch through the get-acquainted meeting confirmed the remarks, and Gorsuch’s team also confirmed them. Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.) said Gorsuch went a step further in their meeting. “He got pretty passionate,” Sasse told MSNBC. “He said, ‘Any attack on any’ – I think his word to me was ‘brothers or sisters of the robe – is an attack on all judges.’” Trump’s recent personal attacks against federal judges have made it likely that Gorsuch will receive intense questioning during hearings on an independent judiciary maintaining checks and balances with the congressional and executive branches. Gorsuch has shown he is an advocate for the separation of powers.