President Trump's comments about the federal judge who blocked his immigration executive order have raised concerns among congressional lawmakers and could complicate the pending confirmation of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.
Trump referred to U.S. District Judge James L. Robart over the weekend in a Twitter as a "so-called judge" after Robart issued a nationwide temporary restraining order stopping the implementation of the executive order, barred immigrant and nonimmigrant visa holders from seven countries, indefinitely suspended the Syrian refugee program and temporarily stopped all refugees from entering the United States.
Trump's post was among numerous tweets pushing back on the decision Friday by Robart in Seattle, Washington, and voicing concern over the subsequent legal battle. The Department of Justice appealed Robart's decision on behalf of the administration, arguing Tuesday that the restraining order is "vastly overbroad" and an improper judicial encroachment on the authority of the president.
Legal experts say the president's Tweets will all but guarantee that the issue of judicial independence is front-and-center during Gorsuch's confirmation hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
"I think President Trump really put into play that issue in the context of the hearing,” University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias said. “And I think they [Democrats] are likely to follow up and ask those kinds of questions.”
Gorsuch himself weighed in on Trump's rhetoric. The Supreme Court nominee used the words "demoralizing" and "disheartening" to describe Trump's comments about the judiciary, according to Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., who met with Gorsuch on Wednesday. A spokesman for the Trump Supreme Court nomination team later confirmed the content of the meeting.
"While he made clear that he was not referring to any specific case, he said that he finds any criticism of a judge's integrity and independence disheartening and demoralizing," former Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire, who is assisting the White House with Gorsuch's confirmation, said in a statement today.
Gorsuch is meeting privately with senators on Capitol Hill all week.
Gorsuch's comments may indicate that he intends to be his own person and exercise the judicial independence that is critical to the federal justice system, professor Tobias said.
"I think that Neil Gorsuch, like most federal judges, realizes that judicial independence is a keystone to what it means to be a federal judge and why they enjoy life tenure,” Tobias told ABC News in email. “I am certain that Neil Gorsuch appreciates that federal judges must be completely free to decide every case on its merits on the law and facts before the judge.”
In addition to calling Judge Robart a "so-called" judge, Trump has put out a batch of tweets related to the case.
Trump said on Wednesday that the "courts seem to be so political."
"I don’t ever want to call a court biased so I won’t call a court biased. [W]e haven’t had a decision," he said at a meeting with police chiefs and sheriffs. "But courts seem to be so political. It would be so great for our justice system if they would be able to read the statement and do what’s right and that has to do with the security of our country which is so important."
During the campaign, Trump repeatedly blasted Judge Gonzalo Curiel, who was presiding over one of the cases against Trump University and who ordered the release of documents related to that case, causing legal experts at the time to worry that the comments could create a dangerous precedent
Trump told The Wall Street Journal in June that Curiel has "an absolute conflict" of interest regarding the case because "of Mexican heritage."
Heritage Foundation legal and judicial studies director John Malcolm told ABC News that while it's perfectly appropriate to question a judge’s reasoning, it does not do much good to question his legitimacy.
"He is not a so-called judge; he is a judge,” Malcolm said at a press briefing this week. “He is as legitimate a judge as President Trump is president.”
By attacking Robart personally and "testing the Constitution," Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said in a statement over the weekend, "President Trump raises the bar even higher for Judge Gorsuch's nomination to serve on the Supreme Court."
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., told ABC News’ "This Week" that "this has been a pattern with the president," referring to Trump's comments about of Judge Curiel and former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates. Yates, an Obama-appointee, was fired shortly after she ordered the U.S. Department of Justice not to defend the refugee ban.
The White House said in a statement that Yates "betrayed” the DOJ.
"When he attacks the independence of the judiciary, I think it does focus on the fight before us now," Klobuchar said of the potential Senate battle over Gorsuch's nomination.
Vice President Mike Pence defended Trump’s criticism of Judge Robart when he was asked whether it was appropriate for the president to question the legitimacy of a federal judge by referring to him in a tweet as a "so-called judge.”
"President Trump’s made it clear that our administration is going to put the safety and security of the American people first," Pence said.
Tobias, the University of Richmond professor, said he believes that confirmation questioning of Gorsuch "will be sharper than before President Trump made these comments" about Robart and "they will be very difficult questions to answer."
"When he sits on the Supreme Court, will he exercise an independence in ruling on specific matters that come to the Supreme Court, especially when they involve the branches of government, separation of powers and those types of questions that will inevitably come to the Supreme Court,” he said.
Jeffery Rosen, president of the National Constitution Center, said he expects Democratic senators to seek reassurance that Gorsuch would enforce the Constitution against President Trump.
"Judicial independence will be a key theme in the Democrats questioning," he said.
In Rosen's view, Gorsuch's record suggests he is willing to enforce the Constitution in cases where his political and constitutional views diverge and that he will be able to reassure Democrats of his willingness to "check President Trump if the constitution requires it."
“Judge Gorsuch's record suggests that he is, indeed, willing to enforce the Constitution in cases where his political and constitutional views diverge,” Rosen said, “and his record suggests that he will be able to reassure Democrats of his willingness to check President Trump if the Constitution requires it.”
ABC News’ Ben Siegel, Arlette Saenz, Jack Date and James Hill contributed reporting to this story.
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