R&I NV — By Joan Biskupic, CNN legal analyst & Supreme Court biographer
Updated 6:40 AM ET, Thu February 18, 2021
(CNN)Lawsuits involving Donald Trump tore apart the Supreme Court while he was president, and the justices apparently remain riven by him.
For nearly four months, the court has refused to act on emergency filings related to a Manhattan grand jury’s subpoena of Trump tax returns, effectively thwarting part of the investigation.
The Supreme Court’s inaction marks an extraordinary departure from its usual practice of timely responses when the justices are asked to block a lower court decision on an emergency basis and has spurred questions about what is happening behind the scenes.
Chief Justice John Roberts, based on his past pattern, may be trying to appease dueling factions among the nine justices, to avoid an order that reinforces a look of partisan politics. Yet paradoxically, the unexplained delay smacks of politics and appears to ensnarl the justices even more in the controversies of Trump.
Continued
Carl Sagan
Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/18/politics/supreme-court-trump-taxes-vance/index.html