Hmmm. When I first read about this I thought it was just another example of a wingnut Supreme being blatantly partisan while his allies wring their hands over Biden “politicizing” the Court by promising to name a Black woman. But it appears there may be more to it:
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is set to headline the Federalist Society’s annual conference in Florida over the weekend. It’s closed to the press. And while it may not be a great look for a sitting Supreme Court justice to speak at an ideological event, it’s not uncommon. Gorsuch has spoken at Federalist Society events in the past. In fact, all of the conservative justices on the Court currently have ties, in some form or another, to the conservative organization.
But part of what makes this year’s confab so intriguing are the prominent conservative names he will be sharing the program with.
Other guests lined up to speak at the conference include former VP Mike Pence, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and Trump’s former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany.
All of these three were former MAGA world elite — though, notably, all three are also currently not necessarily in the the ex-president’s good graces. Trump is openly peeved at Pence and has been for some time, most recently admitting that Pence defied him when he chose not to certify the results of the 2020 election, and urging the Jan. 6 Select Committee to investigate Pence. Reports came out today revealing that McEnany recently met virtually with the Jan. 6 Committee and complied with the panel’s subpoena request for text messages as part of its ongoing probe into the violent Capitol attack.
In this way, at least two of those three big MAGA names are directly tied to lingering questions about the events that unfolded on that very important day. And that adds a layer of intrigue to Gorsuch’s appearance at the closed-to-the-media event.
I don’t know that McEnany is really on the outs with Trump. We don’t know how she testified. But the other two are definitely on Trump’s shitlist. Gorsuch himself can’t be a favorite anymore after he voted to let the national Archives give Trump’s papers to the January 6th Committee. And this meeting is taking place in Florida — Trump’s home turf.
With the Court likely to be weighing in on more cases springing from the January 6th Insurrection it’s intriguing to say the least.