As published in the

Pasadena Star-News - August 3, 2005

San Gabriel Valley Tribune - August 3, 2005

Whittier Daily News - August 3, 2005

John Roberts and Bush vs Gore 2000

by

Gerald Plessner

If I believed in guilt by association or the inability of human beings to overcome their previous associations, my objection to the appointment of John Roberts to the United States Supreme Court would be easy.

Just knowing that he had once worked for Kenneth W. Starr of Whitewater infamy would be cause enough to disqualify him. Judge Roberts was Starr's chief deputy when Starr served as Solicitor General in the administration of the elder president Bush.

I believe that Starr --- despite his many adoring fans on the right --- made a sham of the law as Whitewater Special Counsel. He trampled the law, ignored the civil rights of witnesses and knowingly got a number of them to lie under oath to save their own skins.

Starr's use of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to hound witnesses, throw Susan McDougall in jail for civil contempt for not agreeing to lie before a grand jury, and deny Monica Lewinsky access to an attorney are the actions of someone no supreme court justice should have ever had as a friend, let alone a mentor.

Starr was a patsy for the worst kind of politicians who were willing to do anything to destroy a president. When Starr decided to resign as Special Council, his mentor, North Carolina senator Jesse Helms forced him to stay on to keep the charade alive. Though arguable a bright and creative attorney, Starr ended up being nothing more than a political tool in a plan to reverse the election of a president.

That is why it was so interesting to learn that attorney John Roberts had played an important role in deciding the 2000 election.

It seem that citizen lawyer John Roberts had flown to Florida after the 2000 election to assist in the effort to overturn the decision of the Florida Supreme Court, giving the election to George W. Bush, whom you may recall received a minority of the votes nationwide.

According to Brent Kallestad of the Associated Press, Roberts had "voluntarily flown down from Washington to offer advice to the Republicans, and more specifically to Governor Jeb Bush. The Florida governor's spokesman, Jacob DiPietre was quoted as saying, 'He came down and met with the governor briefly and shared with him some of his thoughts on what he believed the governor's responsibilities were after a presidential election, a presidential election in dispute.'"

And according to Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times, Roberts "Had operated in the shadows during at least some of those 37 days, never signing a legal brief . . . but had indeed 'advised Governor Jeb Bush on the role that he and the Florida Legislature might play in the recount battle", throwing the election to brother George.

Roberts was recruited for his role by Ted Cruz, a Bush campaign official who is now the Texas Solicitor General. He confirmed that he thought of Roberts as a resource and asked him to come to Florida.

And so, John Roberts visited Florida at his own expense, advised the governor on how to save the election for his brother, participated in a dress rehearsal to prepare the governor's legal team for the U.S. Supreme Court and, three years later was appointed to the U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the second most important court in the land.

And so the president has nominated to the Supreme Court an attorney who had a key role in defeating the Florida Supreme Court's attempt to fulfill its obligation under states rights to rule on an election, throwing a closely-contested election into the Supreme Court and replacing the justice who played the swing role in giving the election to the same president.

Isn't it amazing how good thing just happen to good people?

A note: We are indebted to Tom Englehardt of TomDisptach.com for bringing this story to our attention. Thanks, Tom!

About the author: Gerald Plessner is a Southern California businessman who writes regularly on issues of politics and culture. He would be pleased to hear from you and may be contacted at gerald@geraldplessner.com.