Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Elena Kagan at President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on March 4. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump’s social media posts — with their random capitalization, inventive grammar and heavy use of exclamation points and insults — draw a lot of different reactions, but it’s a safe bet that a history lesson is not at top of the list.
Much less a history lesson that invoked a Founding Father from Maryland and led to a speech on the Senate floor Wednesday.
But that’s where Sen. Charles Sydnor (D-Baltimore County) took the president’s angry post Tuesday on Truth Social that called for the impeachment of a federal judge who disagreed with him, and the rare reply from Chief Justice John Roberts that said — and this is not a direct quote — chill on the impeachment talk.
Trump was angry with U.S. District Judge James Boasberg, who ruled against the administration’s plan to use an 18th century law to deport Venezuelan migrants, and ordered the government to turn around planes that were on their way to Venezuela — which the administration did not do. Trump responded with a post that called Boasberg a “troublemaker and agitator” and said the “Radical Left Lunatic of a Judge … like many of the Crooked Judges’ I am forced to appear before, should be IMPEACHED!!!”
That drew the attention of Roberts, who released a statement through the court’s press office: “For more than two centuries, it has been established that impeachment is not an appropriate response to disagreement concerning a judicial decision. The normal appellate review process exists for that purpose.”
And that drew the attention of Sydnor, who “as a student of history” wondered who Roberts was referring to from two centuries ago.
“Who he was referring to was our very own Samuel Chase, right here on the wall,” he said, pointing to the large but largely overlooked portrait looming over senators’ desks at the back of the chamber.
Chase’s portrait shows him in the judicial robes of his time on the U.S. Supreme Court, but he was also a member of the legislature and a signer of the Declaration. And a rabid partisan, whose Federalist leanings leached over into his behavior on the bench. That led to his impeachment by the U.S. House on eight articles, but the Senate failed to convict him.
It was the last time a Supreme Court justice faced impeachment, and it set the standard that judges should be impeached for indictable offenses, not just errors on the bench. That, as Roberts noted, is what appellate courts are for.
“I just felt, given such tension on what’s happening at the federal level, and we had someone who used to serve right here in this body,” Sydnor said. “I felt it was appropriate to call attention to this.”
So noted.
Annapolis lobbying firm heads west
A powerhouse Annapolis lobbying firm is going west.
Perry Jacobs will remain anchored in Maryland but announced Wednesday that it will open up a new office in Denver. The new office will be headed by Leroy M. Garcia, the former Colorado Senate president and a former official under President Joseph Biden.
Garcia will be a partner in the firm.
“Leroy was a natural addition as we looked to expand our services,” said Perry Jacobson Managing Partner Jonas Jacobson. “He’s highly respected in Colorado, and his national network through organizations like NCSL [National Conference of State Legislatures] and NALEO [National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials] gives us the opportunity to offer our clients an even greater level of connectivity and expertise.
“This move isn’t about expanding just to have a presence in new states — it’s about strengthening our team with leaders who can help our clients accomplish their goals,” he said.
Jacobson, in a statement to Maryland Matters, said staking a claim in the Centennial State was a natural move because many of the firm’s existing clients have interest in both states.
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