rev rob schenck historical

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hero? of Gibney doku 2025 max hbo 30 yrs anti abort activist

"In one instance, Justice [Clarence] Thomas commended me, saying something like, 'Keep up what you're doing; it's making a difference ...

Bopp? hobby lobby?

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gingrich?

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https://news.yahoo.com/house-hearing-airs-ethics-allegations-205020273.html}:

12 22 yahoo

House Democrats blasted the Supreme Court over alleged ethical lapses on Thursday, mounting a hearing that showcased a religious-right lobbying campaign aimed at the justices and claims of an alleged leak from the court of a key decision in 2014.

At a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee, a former evangelical minister who organized the lobbying effort, the Rev. Robert Schenck, detailed his efforts to deploy wealthy social conservatives as “stealth missionaries” to befriend conservative justices.

“The operation’s overall goals were to gain insights into the conservative justices’ thinking and to shore up their resolve to render solid, unapologetic opinions, particularly against abortion,” Schenck testified. “I called this our ministry of emboldenment.”

House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said disclosures in news outlets, including POLITICO, about a lobbying drive targeting the justices have cast doubt on how the Supreme Court arrived at its earthshaking decision in June that overturned the federal constitutional right to abortion.

“We are now left wondering how much of this decision ending decades of established precedent was influenced by the organized wealthy donors and lobbying to move conservative justices to the right,” Nadler said.

Nadler and other Democratic members said Schenck’s account underscored the need to pass legislation imposing a binding ethics code on the Supreme Court.

“Supreme Court justices cannot self-police their own ethics, and we shouldn’t expect them to,” Nadler said.

Schenck said that the efforts he undertook to try to build ties with the conservative justices through meals and hosting them at private homes took advantage of lax ethics rules at the high court.

“There were clear rules in place limiting the way one could interact with the representative branches … none of that applied at the Supreme Court,” Schenck said “We knew that there was a great deal of liberty and latitude there and made our operation at the judicial branch, at that level, much easier.”

However, a lawyer and former Supreme Court clerk called as a GOP witness, Mark Paoletta,blasted Schenck as a “con man” and argued he should not be trusted because of his public admissions that he lied at times during his lobbying drive.

“Schenck’s entire project was a grift and had zero impact on any justice,” Paoletta declared.

Paoletta, who worked on the Senate confirmation of Justice Clarence Thomas and has represented his wife, Virginia Thomas, in connection with the House Jan. 6 Committee probe, said it was absurd to think that justices like Thomas or Samuel Alito would be susceptible to pressure to be more conservative on issues like abortion rights.

“You are smearing the court and encouraging the public to question the court and its rulings,” Paoletta added. “This political assault on the court is a dangerous game.”

No one from the Supreme Court testified at Thursday’s hearing, but the court has issued statements disputing many of Schenck’s allegations. The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the hearing and about an assertion that it had been asked “again and again” to send a witness but failed to do so.

Schenck has also claimed that in 2014 he learned of the outcome of a widely watched Supreme Court case about the rights of businesses with religious owners to avoid providing contraception coverage under Obamacare, Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores. Schenck says that about three weeks before the decision was released, he learned that Alito was writing the opinion and that the religious business owners had prevailed.

Schenck said the typically confidential information came from Gayle Wright, following a dinner she and her husband had at Alito’s home in Alexandria, Va. Wright has denied Schenck’s account. Alito issued a statement last month saying neither he nor his wife disclosed the outcome or authorship of the Hobby Lobby decision prior to its release.

Republican lawmakers sought to undercut Schenck, accusing him of dishonesty and citing his admission that he propagated “consequential lies” before making a break with the religious right several years ago.

“I look back and realize that many of the things I promulgated were not true,” he conceded Thursday. “I did not know at the time.”

Republican House members faulted their Democratic colleagues for drawing attention to the alleged 2014 leak, while not calling any hearing to explore how POLITICO obtained a draft opinion in the major abortion case the high court issued in June. Alito also authored that decision, seen as a landmark victory for conservatives.

“You held zero hearings on it,” Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) complained.

“Not one hearing about the real leak, but here we are having a hearing on the fake leak,”Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) said.

Jordan also noted that POLITICO reported recently, that after months of investigation, that it “was unable to locate anyone who heard about the Hobby Lobbydecision directly from either Alito or his wife before its release at the end of June 2014.”

Jordan read that part of the article aloud twice for emphasis, although he omitted the word “directly” in both instances. Biggs later read the passage in its entirety.

Despite heated exchanges between Democratic and GOP lawmakers, members of both parties said they favored requiring some ethics code for the Supreme Court.

“If you can buy off the Supreme Court … the left will be way better at it than we are,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said.

Paoletta accused Democrats of “gaslighting” because they didn’t show much interest in ethics practices when Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s husband continued to practice law after she was sworn in to the court.

However, Rep. Val Demings (D-Fla.) said that was no reason to fail to move forward with legislation to impose an ethics code on the high court.

“We’re talking about it now. Sometimes we’re late,” she said.

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect Mark Paoletta's previous work on the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

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1 23 yahoo

The New York Times has uncovered another Supreme Court ethics scandal, and it's a doozy.

:{:{A little-known charity connected to the Court called the Supreme Court Historical Society has been raising millions from right-wing special interests with major cases before the justices — and none of it was disclosed to the public before now.}:

Chevron gave $190,000 while the Supreme Court considered countless major cases on global warming and the environment. UPS gave more than half a million as the justices were considering a pregnancy discrimination suit against the company. A corporate lawyer who advocated on behalf of Purdue Pharma, the notorious manufacturers of OxyContin, gave $187,500.1}:

And what did they get in exchange for their generosity? Direct access to the justices, including invitations to black-tie dinners, lectures, and other events.

The Supreme Court Historical Society scandal broke almost a month ago, and Chief Justice John Roberts and the other justices haven't said a word about it. No investigation, no accountability, no talk of reform. Nothing.

The Supreme Court has proven that it can't be trusted to police itself and needs a legally binding code of ethics. Will you donate today to Demand Progress Action to help power our work, including urging Congress to pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act?

The Supreme Court Historical Society is ostensibly devoted to preserving and explaining the Court’s history. It claims to be independent from the Supreme Court, but its offices are around the corner, and then Chief Justice Warren Burger served as its honorary chairman when it was founded in 1974.2

Since then, it has raised $25 million without any rules or regulations for reporting, transparency, or conflicts of interest.

The New York Times report was able to trace a little less than half of the donations that have been made to the charity, and almost two-thirds came from parties that regularly do business before the Court.

Anti-LGBTQ groups. Wall Street banks, like Goldman Sachs. Anti-abortion lobbyists. Big Cable. Facebook.

They all gave, they all had cases before the Court, and many of them won.

The nine justices of the Supreme Court are appointed for life, and despite their virtually unchecked power, there are no rules regarding when they must recuse themselves or even reveal potential conflicts of interest. Without ethical standards, justices don't have to recuse themselves when they have a conflict of interest or even disclose such conflicts.3

Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action

Sources:

The New York Times, "A Charity Tied to the Supreme Court Offers Donors Access to the Justices," January 1, 2023.
Supreme Court Historical Society, "The Society's Mission," accessed January 24, 2023.
Brennan Center for Justice, "Brennan Center Urges Supreme Court Justices to Adopt a Code of Ethics," September 24, 2019.

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an comm dr 1 23

Both alarm and concern were expressed Saturday in response to new reporting about a charitable group with close ties to the U.S. Supreme Court that has been soliciting and accepting donations from corporate interests and far-right activists with cases before the Court.

The New York Times exposé focused on the activities and fundraising of the Supreme Court Historical Society, a nonprofit that claims its mission is "dedicated to the collection and preservation" of the Court's history.

While the group refused to disclose its donors to the Times, reporters from the newspaper determine that much of the funding came from powerful companies like Chevron, Goldman Sachs, Time Warner, and Facebook as well as anti-abortion activists like Rev. Rob Schenck.

According to the newspaper:

:{:{The society has raised more than $23 million over the last two decades. Because of its nonprofit status, it does not have to publicly disclose its donors—and declined when asked to do so. But The New York Times was able to identify the sources behind more than $10.7 million raised since 2003, the first year for which relevant records were available.}:

At least $6.4 million—or 60 percent—came from corporations, special interest groups, or lawyers and firms that argued cases before the court, according to an analysis of archived historical society newsletters and publicly available records that detail grants given to the society by foundations. Of that, at least $4.7 million came from individuals or entities in years when they had a pending interest in a federal court case on appeal or at the high court, records show.}:

In the case of Chevron, the oil giant actively gave to the society even as it had a pending climate litigation working its way through the court.

In response to the new revelations, public interest attorney Steven Donzinger, who was himself targeted by Chevron for his work aimed at holding the company to account for its polluting activities in Ecuador, said the implications were "horrifying."

"Why are these conflicts allowed?" asked Donzinger.

Others quoted by the Times said the effort by people like Rev. Schenck, who admits to using the charitable group as a way to get other anti-abortion activists closer to the justices, creates a clear conflict of interest.

Charles Fried, a Harvard Law professor who once served as solicitor general in the Reagan administration and counts himself a donor to the Historical Society, told the newspaper was so "horrified" by Schenck's behavior that he may no longer give.

"It's disgusting," Fried said. "Many of the people who contribute have the same reasons I do. You go to a cocktail party and support a good cause. But it turns out that for some people it's not that innocent."

While the Times notes that the Historical Society is "ostensibly independent of the judicial branch of government," the reality is that "the two are inextricably intertwined," with court justices serving as chair of the board and hosting gala events where exclusive access is reportedly part of the allure.

The left-leaning Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said the reporting raises "significant questions" about the group which has "raked in millions—a significant chunk of it from groups with cases before the Court" over the last two decades.

Fix the Court, which acts as a watchdog organization for the U.S. Supreme Court, said the justification for the Historical Society's existence just doesn't hold water.

and Gabe Roth, the group's executive director, told the Times that if money was an issue for funding such a project it would be the best solution—one free of ethical concerns—for Congress to simply appropriate the money needed to maintain the history of the Court.

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an 12 22

The Rev. Rob Schenck was once deeply involved in the Christian right movement and white evangelical efforts to persuade the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade. But the evangelical Protestant minister has grown increasingly critical of the Christian right and the anti-abortion movement that he was once a part of.

Moreover, he is speaking out against the Christian right’s campaign to lobby Supreme Court justices in the 2014 case Burwell v. Hobby Lobby.

Schenck alleges that evangelical Christian fundamentalists knew what the High Court’s decision in Hobby Lobby would be before that decision was publicly announced, and that the leak came from either Justice Samuel Alito or his wife — an allegation that Justice Alito has vehemently denied. And Schenck discussed that allegation when he testified before the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, December 8.

The Independent’s Alex Woodward, reporting on Schenck’s testimony, explains, “An evangelical minister and former longtime anti-abortion activist told members of Congress that he helped recruit wealthy conservative donors to serve as ‘stealth missionaries’ at the U.S. Supreme Court, where they developed friendships with conservative justices that aligned with the group’s ‘social and religious’ views. The ‘overarching’ goal of Robert Schenck’s ‘Operation Higher Court’ sought to ‘gain insight into the conservative justices’ thinking and to shore up their resolve to render solid, unapologetic opinions,’ he told the House Judiciary Committee in sworn testimony on 8 December.”

Operation Higher Court was the lobbying campaign of Faith and Action, the Christian right group that Schenck was a part of for many years.

Woodward notes that Schenck “testified to the Committee that his group suggested tactics like meeting with justices for meals at their homes and at private clubs to build relationships and advance their perceived common objectives.”

Schenck told House Judiciary Committee members, “I believe we pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics and compromised the High Court’s promise to administer equal justice. I humbly apologize to all I failed in this regard. Most of all, I beg the pardon of the folks I enlisted to do work that was not always transparently honest.… I’m here today in the interest of truth telling.”

The December 8 hearing wasn’t strictly about Burwell v. Hobby Lobby or Operation Higher Court’s campaign to influence Supreme Court justices. It was about Supreme Court ethics in general, and Schenck now believes that it was unethical for Supreme Court justices to be interacting with Christian right lobbyists.

Watch the video of Schenck’s December 8 testimony below or atthis link.

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[### Clarence Thomas Allegedly Told Rev. Rob Schenck to “ ...

_Balls and Strikes_

https://ballsandstrikes.org › Articles Archive](https://ballsandstrikes.org/ethics-accountability/rob-schenck-clarence-thomas-house-judiciary-committee-testimony/)

Dec 13, 2022 — Justice Clarence Thomas, he said, commended his efforts and encouraged him to “keep up what you're doing” because “it's making a difference.”

[### "Justice Thomas commended me..."

C-SPAN

https://www.c-span.org · 6 days ago](https://www.c-span.org/video/?c5045114/justice-thomas-commended-me)

Former anti-abortion lobbyist Rev. Robert Schenck on "Operation Higher Court": involved my recruitment of wealthy donors as stealth missionaries.

Missing: clarence ‎| Show results with: clarence

[### Was the Anti-Abortion Influence Campaign an Open Secret ...

Mother Jones

https://www.motherjones.com › politics › 2022/12 › ro...](https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2022/12/rob-schenck-clarence-thomas-supreme-court/)

Dec 8, 2022 — Schenck told the Times that he instructed his “missionaries” not to mention him or his group, Faith and Action, to keep his affiliation hidden.

[### Former evangelical activist says he 'pushed the boundaries ...

NPR

https://www.npr.org › 2022/12/08 › supreme-court-lea...](https://www.npr.org/2022/12/08/1141546218/supreme-court-leaks-reverend-rob-schenk-dobbs-hobby-lobby)

Dec 8, 2022 — "In one instance, Justice [Clarence] Thomas commended me, saying something like, 'Keep up what you're doing; it's making a difference ...

[### Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Schenck_v._Pro-Choic...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schenck_v._Pro-Choice_Network_of_Western_New_York)

Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York, 519 U.S. 357 (1997), was a case heard before the United States Supreme Court related to legal protection ...

[### Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York(1997)

Free Speech Center

https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu › Articles › Case](https://firstamendment.mtsu.edu/article/schenck-v-pro-choice-network-of-western-new-york/)

Jul 30, 2023 — Kennedy and Clarence Thomas, argued (following on Scalia's dissent in Madsen) that fixed buffer zones represent unconstitutional restrictions on ...

[### Clarence Thomas Is the Most Corrupt of an Extremely ...

Jacobin

https://jacobin.com › 2023/04 › clarence-thomas-supre...](https://jacobin.com/2023/04/clarence-thomas-supreme-court-corruption-billionaire-interests-far-right)

Apr 11, 2023 — A bombshell new report reveals just how extensively Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas has allowed billionaire interests to buy him favors.

[### Schenck v. Pro-Choice Network of Western New York

Oyez

https://www.oyez.org › cases](https://www.oyez.org/cases/1996/95-1065)

Oct 16, 1996 — This action was filed by the Pro-Choice Network of Western New York (PCN), on behalf of health care providers, to enjoin Schenck and others from continuously ...

[### 'Operation Higher Court': Inside the religious right's efforts ...

Politico

https://www.politico.com › news › 2022/07/08 › religio...](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/religious-right-supreme-court-00044739)

Jul 8, 2022 — Schenck said the goal was to create an ecosystem of support for conservative justices, as a way of making them more forthright in their views.

[### Schenck v. United States

Sharon M. Kennedy

https://www.authorsharonkennedy.com › 2024/05/14](https://www.authorsharonkennedy.com/2024/05/14/schenck-v-united-states/)

May 14, 2024 — The decision of the Court was unanimous. Free speech does not shield unlawful conduct under the Espionage Act [during wartime].

ggl 6 25

wright

[### Former Anti-Abortion Leader Alleges Another Supreme ...

_The New York Times_

https://www.nytimes.com › 2022/11/19 › supreme-cour...](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/19/us/supreme-court-leak-abortion-roe-wade.html)

Nov 19, 2022 — Schenck recruited wealthy donors like Mrs. Wright and her husband, Donald, encouraging them to invite some of the justices to meals, to their ...

[### 'Operation Higher Court': Inside the religious right's efforts ...

Politico

https://www.politico.com › news › 2022/07/08 › religio...](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/07/08/religious-right-supreme-court-00044739)

Jul 8, 2022 — Schenck pointed to one prominent evangelical couple — Don and Gayle Wright of Dayton, Ohio — as major funders of his group, which ...

[### Reverend who accused Alito of 2014 leak in Hobby Lobby ...

SCOTUSblog

https://www.scotusblog.com › 2022/12 › reverend-who...](https://www.scotusblog.com/2022/12/reverend-who-accused-alito-of-2014-leak-in-hobby-lobby-speaks-before-house-judiciary-committee/)

Dec 9, 2022 — Gayle Wright denied that she or her husband, now deceased, had learned the outcome from the Alitos. Until recently, Schenck ran a 20-year ...

[### Ohio couple's gifts show need for U.S. Supreme Court ...

Cleveland.com

https://www.cleveland.com › news › 2022/12 › ohio-cou...](https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/12/ohio-couples-gifts-show-need-for-us-supreme-court-ethics-code-congressional-committee-told.html)

Dec 8, 2022 — Gayle and Don Wright of Centerville, Ohio, were part of a program called “Operation Higher Court” that recruited “wealthy donors, and ...

[### SCOTUS legal counsel defends Alito dinner with ...

ABA Journal

https://www.abajournal.com › news › article › scotus-leg...](https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/scotus-legal-counsel-defends-alito-dinner-with-evangelical-donors-says-leak-report-is-uncorroborated)

Nov 30, 2022 — Gail Wright also denied the allegation that she passed along the information to the Rev. Rob Schenck before the opinion favoring the religious ...

Missing: gayle ‎| Show results with: gayle

[### Dem lawmakers insist SCOTUS probe 'leaked' Hobby ...

New York Post

https://nypost.com › 2022/11/21 › lawmakers-demand-...](https://nypost.com/2022/11/21/lawmakers-demand-action-after-alleged-2014-supreme-court-leak/)

Nov 21, 2022 — Schenck alleged two conservative activists had informed him of the pending ruling after that couple had dinner at the home of Supreme Court ...

[### The Supreme Court Will Always Find a Way to Give Itself ...

Balls and Strikes

https://ballsandstrikes.org › Articles Archive](https://ballsandstrikes.org/newsletter/supreme-court-corruption-excuse/)

Nov 27, 2022 — He calls Schenck's account “uncorroborated,” which astute readers will note is not the same as, for example, “disproven” or “false.” The letter ...

[### The court's supremely obtuse response to its ethical ...

The Washington Post

https://www.washingtonpost.com › 2022/11/29 › supre...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/11/29/supreme-court-ethics-roberts-alilto/)

Nov 29, 2022 — Rob Schenck, who headed the organization, said that Gayle Wright had tipped him off in advance about the outcome and authorship of a 2014 case, ...

[### Whistleblower tells New York Times he learned via leak ...

OregonLive.com

https://www.oregonlive.com › nation › 2022/11 › whistl...](https://www.oregonlive.com/nation/2022/11/whistleblower-tells-new-york-times-he-learned-via-leak-outcome-of-hobby-lobby-decision-by-supreme-court.html)

Nov 20, 2022 — Schenck told the Times he learned the outcome from Gayle Wright just after she and her husband, Donald, had dinner at the Virginia home of ...

[### How The Supreme Court Is Destroying Its Own Legitimacy Alliance for Justice

https://afj.org › article › how-the-supreme-court-is-destro...](https://afj.org/article/how-the-supreme-court-is-destroying-its-own-legitimacy/)

Jan 25, 2023 — Schenck says that one of those couples, Gayle and Don Wright (now deceased) had a dinner with Justice Alito while Hobby Lobby was pending ...