South OC Times

Washington – Congressman Darrell Issa (CA-48), Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, and Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan have written a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland. The letter requests a briefing on the Department of Justice’s efforts to enhance security for Supreme Court justices.

This request follows an assassination attempt on President Trump at a rally in Butler, PA, amid increasing political tension and threats toward the justices of the Supreme Court.

An excerpt from the letter states:

“In recent years, left-wing groups and partisan activists have been unrelenting in their attacks on the Court and its independence. For example, in 2019, Senate Democrats threatened the Court in an amicus brief that it would be ‘restructured’ if the Court did not decide a case in the manner they preferred. In March 2020, the Senate Democrat Leader went to the steps of the Court and threatened specific justices by name for their official actions: ‘I want to tell you, Gorsuch, I want to tell you, Kavanaugh, you have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.’”

The letter further references events following the leak of a draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in May 2022:

“Conservative justices faced relentless protests at their homes... Radical left-wing groups engaged in prolonged harassment and intimidation campaigns outside justices’ homes. One radical group published home addresses of six Republican-appointed justices intending to stir up organized harassment at their residences. Another radical group offered bounties for information on these justices’ locations.”

It also recounts an incident involving Justice Kavanaugh:

“In June 2022, a man showed up to the home of Justice Kavanaugh with weapons... The man had on him a handgun, a tactical knife, pepper spray, zip ties, a hammer, and other gear to ‘remove some people from the Supreme Court,’ intending to ‘stop Roe v. Wade from being overturned.’”

The letter concludes with concerns about judicial safety:

“Accordingly... we remain concerned about the security and safety of all judicial branch officers—including and especially Supreme Court justices... We request a staff-level briefing regarding the Department’s efforts... Please arrange for this briefing as soon as possible but no later than August 6, 2024.”

The full text of this letter can be accessed here.