Sen. Smith: Justice Roberts's reputation as moderate is "not really necessarily the case"

Who?Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) LISTEN: Laslo & SmithAsk a Pol asks:What do you make of the recent New York Times reporting that Chief Justice John Roberts deftly worked in the background to steer pro-Trump Jan. 6, 2021 Supreme Court rulings on presidential immunity and appearing on the ballot?Key Smith: “It’s interesting how there's sort of this story out there that Roberts was like the moderator and the mediator. And the story would suggest that he, you know — that's not really necessarily the case,” Sen. Tina Smith exclusively tells Ask a Pol. ICYMI — Laslo’s full reporting on the Roberts Court This interview was first included in Matt Laslo’s Raw Story feature, “From moderate to manipulator: Behind the unmasking of Chief Justice John Roberts” Expanding size of Supreme Court: You’re one of only three senators who support Sen. Ed Markey’s (D-MA) bill to expand the size of the Court — in the wake of this reporting, have any of your other colleagues approached you about that effort? “No, I haven't heard it,” Smith tells us.Below find a rough transcript of Ask a Pol’s exclusive interview with Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN), slightly edited for clarity.TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Tina SmithSCENE: As Sen. Smith makes her way to a Senate vote via the Capitol basement, Ask a Pol’s Matt Laslo asks about Supreme Court politics. Matt Laslo: Catch this New York Times “article on John Roberts and the Court about him sending memos and him kind of being the center of…”Tina Smith: “I mean, I glanced at it, but I didn't read it really carefully to tell you the God's truth.”Sen. Smith laughs.ML: “Fair, fair, fair. You've got a day job.”TS: “Yeah, I know.”ML: “You shouldn't be reading articles anyways.”TS: “Yeah.”Sen. Smith laughs.ML: “But it's interesting because it seems like he interfered in the immunity case…”TS: “Yeah, I did see that, and it's interesting how — it’s interesting how there's sort of this story out there that Roberts was, like, the moderator and the mediator. And the story would suggest that he, you know — that's not really necessarily the case.”ML: “Have any of your colleagues approached you about the [Sen. Ed] Markey bill to expand the size of the Court in the wake of that or — yeah?”TS: “No, I haven't heard it. I think people are, you know — there's a lot of conversation about the Court and the challenges with the Court. But I don't — you know, I think we're so right now, honestly, everybody is just so focused on trying to figure out how to get through this next week and a half and…”ML: “It's interesting, cause [Vice President] Kamala Harris and [Democratic VP candidate Tim] Walz, they get painted as wanting to expand the size of the Court when they haven't, but it’s — do you think the party is gonna have a broader debate about this?”TS: “I would guess that, you know, once we get through this election and we have a better understanding of, like, where the, like, kinda what the landscape is, then, yeah, we'll talk more about it.”ML: “I'll be listening.”TS: “Okay, thank you.”ML: “Have a good one, ma'am.”Laslo sees Sen. Peter Welch.ML: “Look at this young man…”Content posted at AskaPol.com is copyrighted. Use our original content to move the story forward. And, please, link to us. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.askapolpolitics.com/subscribe