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Stephen Miller’s America First Legal (AFL) has filed a bombshell lawsuit against Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., in his capacity as Presiding Officer of the Judicial Conference of the United States, and Robert J. Conrad, Director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.
The lawsuit accuses the powerful duo of running what AFL describes as an “unconstitutional shadow agency” and violating federal transparency laws.
The lawsuit, filed on April 22, slams the Judicial Conference of the United States and its administrative arm—both overseen by Chief Justice Roberts—as rogue “executive agencies” that have collaborated with far-left lawmakers to wage lawfare against conservative Supreme Court justices.
According to the lawsuit viewed by The Gateway Pundit:
“For several years, the media and enterprising lawmakers have launched an onslaught to destroy the impartiality and political neutrality of Article III courts and, particularly, the Supreme Court. Justices Thomas, Alito, and Kavanaugh have all faced political and physical threats because of the politicization and weaponization of the law.
This lawfare has been led by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Representative Hank Johnson, relying upon an ideologically favorable legacy media to falsely accuse Justices Thomas and Alito of ethical improprieties. Their aim was simple: to chill the judicial independence of these Supreme Court Justices.”
According to the explosive complaint, the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts — long presumed exempt from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) — have functioned more like executive agencies rather than neutral arms of the judiciary.
AFL argues that these entities must comply with FOIA because they exercise “executive powers,” including responding to congressional oversight and issuing binding regulations — all under the direction of Roberts himself.
AFL’s lawsuit stems from its FOIA requests for communications between these agencies and Whitehouse and Johnson, two of the most vocal Democrat crusaders against conservative justices.
After the agencies flatly denied the requests, claiming FOIA doesn’t apply to them, AFL took them to court.
“The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are central levers for Senator Whitehouse and Representative Johnson’s lawfare enterprise. The Conference and the Administrative Office have actively accommodated oversight requests from these congressmen concerning their allegations against Justices Thomas and Alito.
Under our constitutional tradition, accommodations with Congress are the province of the executive branch. The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are therefore executive agencies. Such agencies must be overseen by the President, not the courts. Judicial relief here not only preserves the separation of powers but also keeps the courts out of politics.
[…]
Courts definitively do not create agencies to exercise functions beyond resolving cases or controversies or administratively supporting those functions. But the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts does exactly that.
[…]
The Judicial Conference’s duties are executive functions and must be supervised by executive officers who are appointed and accountable to other executive officers.
Thus, the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office exercise executive functions and are accordingly subject to FOIA. Accordingly, their refusal to comply with AFL’s FOIA request is unlawful.”
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