President Donald Trump just "laid bare" the "absurdity" of Chief Justice John Roberts' catastrophic Supreme Court decision, according to new analysis published Wednesday.
A new Mother Jones report from reporter Pema Levy describes how Trump can make the decision to demand the Justice Department pay him $230 million of taxpayer money "because thanks to the Supreme Court’s recent decisions, the executive branch could accurately be described by King Louis XIV—L’état, c’est Trump."
That "colossal cash transfer" Trump is requesting can happen due to the high court opinions from Roberts, "in which the court has shifted the fundamental structure of American government such that federal agencies, including the Justice Department, are mere extensions of the president’s will."
The reality is that Roberts set the groundwork for Trump's latest "shakedown."
"The absurdity of Roberts’ decision was laid bare Tuesday: The president gets to pay himself hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars, because he controls all executive branch personnel and all of their decisions, and there’s probably nothing anyone can do about it," Levy writes. "It sure doesn’t feel like our democratic accountability has increased. Of course, Congress could and should pass a law prohibiting such payments, and dare the Supreme Court to strike it down—but this Congress is unlikely to do even that bare minimum in response."
Trump wants to be compensated after the investigations over Russia's involvement and interference in the 2016 election, and Trump's alleged mishandling of classified documents that he took after leaving the White House the first time.
"Now that he’s back in the White House, Trump plans to make the government pay for its appropriate use of its ability to investigate and prosecute to safeguard our democracy. And he grasps the fact that he has the absolute power to do that," Levy writes.
He even admitted it.
“With the country, it’s interesting, because I’m the one that makes the decision,” Trump said Tuesday in the Oval Office, following questions about the payments he requested.
“That decision would have to go across my desk. And it’s awfully strange to make a decision where I’m paying myself,” Trump said.
Roberts has claimed to be increasing democratic accountability in his opinions.
"But at this point, we can all see the mess he’s created. A man who takes from the voters to line his pockets is not feeling all that accountable to anyone," Levy writes.
