John Roberts’ betrayal

If an accurate history of America’s descent into authoritarianism is ultimately written, it will pinpoint Chief Justice John Roberts and the court he has led for the past two decades as the driving force behind the dismantlement of America’s democracy.
It was the Roberts court that laid the groundwork for the current administration, the most corrupt and destructive presidency in American history.
While several rulings by the Roberts Court have played a role in threatening the American experiment, three stand out: the 2010 Citizens United decision, along with the Snyder v. United States, and Trump v. United States rulings, both written in 2024.
Citizens United, a ruling that stripped away decades of efforts by reformers in Congress to control the power of big money in politics, fundamentally altered our electoral system. At no time was this more apparent than in the 2024 election, when Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, spent more than a quarter billion dollars himself to fund virtually every aspect of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. He was joined by others among the uber rich who poured money into the Trump campaign, allowing him to keep pace with the record number of small donations, along with many large ones as well, that came into the campaign of Kamala Harris.
The symbolism from Trump’s inaugural, in which the new president was backdropped by a who’s who of America’s wealthiest individuals, was unmistakable. Fourteen years after Citizens United unleashed the power of money, those with the most of it were now in charge.
While the Snyder decision, issued in June 2024, has received somewhat less attention in the media, it is significant nonetheless because it has cleared the way for the kind of direct payments to elected officials that most Americans have long viewed as bribery. For decades, federal law distinguished between contributions to a campaign and those made to elected officials. While both kinds of payments can lead to undue influence (which is why reformers in Congress long sought limits on those campaign contributions), payments of cash or other things of value directly to an elected official have long been viewed as the most likely to lead to corrupt action.
The Supreme Court, in a decision written by Justice Kavanaugh, ruled that paying an elected official for political services rendered need not be punishable, so long as the payment is made after the act and without a documented quid pro quo. In other words, you still can’t offer an explicit bribe, but you can pay federal officials “a tip” when they do what you want. That’s why Apple CEO Tim Cook can walk into President Trump’s office bearing what was, in effect, a large gold bar that he offered to Trump as a personal gift. While federal law states that such gifts are official government property, as Trump demonstrated in his first term, he will unquestionably leave office with Cook’s gold and the many other gifts that his various supplicants have showered on him for the influence they offer. That includes the half-billion-dollar luxury jet given to Trump by the Qatari government. Not even a clear constitutional prohibition against a president accepting foreign “emoluments” prevented Trump from accepting the gift, which he will undoubtedly use for his own private purposes if he ever leaves office. None of these gifts are bribes, according to the Supreme Court. They’re simply gratuities, like the tip you offer your waiter or waitress for catering to your desires.
Regardless of the law, the Supreme Court has given Trump the ultimate free pass, with a permanent “Get Out of Jail Free” card thanks to its astonishing decision in Trump v. United States, setting the stage for the out-of-control administration we see today.
By giving Trump absolute immunity for any even remotely official act, the Supreme Court knowingly gave the most reckless person ever to serve as president the powers of a king. The decision, written by Roberts himself, stripped away the constitutional abilities of Congress and the courts to provide a check on the actions of the executive, fundamentally undermining the checks and balances carefully woven into the U.S. Constitution.
Roberts relied primarily on his own personal judgment throughout his decision, since there is virtually nothing in the constitution nor prior precedent to support his arguments. Indeed, constitutional experts around the country were stunned at the recklessness of Robert’s decision.
By giving big money unlimited rein in our elections, by easing the prohibitions on political graft, and by giving the president the immunity once granted only to kings, the Roberts Court paved the way for the most lawless and unchecked presidential administration in American history. John Roberts may well have laid the foundation for the end of America as we’ve known it. It’s a legacy of shame.