Tuesday, Sep. 21, 2021
Were four current Supreme Court justices involved in the 2000 presidential election dispute?
Justices John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett all assisted George W. Bush’s legal team in the dispute over the 2000 presidential election results. A fourth colleague, Justice Clarence Thomas, who joined the Supreme Court majority halting a recount, was appointed by George H. W. Bush in 1991.
Roberts flew to Florida and advised Bush’s brother Jeb, then the state’s governor, during the dispute. President Bush nominated Roberts as Chief Justice in 2005.
Kavanaugh offered legal counsel, arguing for “the arbitrary, standardless nature of the recount process in Florida.” Bush hired Kavanaugh to work in the White House and later appointed him to the U.S. Court of Appeals. Trump elevated him to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Barrett, before being confirmed to the court in 2020, told the Senate that she “provided research and briefing assistance” to Bush’s law firm for about a week “at the outset of the litigation.”
This fact brief is responsive to conversations such as this one.
Sources
- C-SPAN Clarence Thomas Supreme Court nomination announcement (July 1, 1991)
- Los Angeles Times Confirmation path may run through Florida
- CNN Here’s what Brett Kavanaugh said on CNN about Bush v. Gore in 2000
- National Law Journal Amy Coney Barrett would be third justice who touched 'Bush v. Gore' litigation
- US Senate Judiciary Committee Amy Coney Barrett nominee questionnaire (see Q. 18, p. 28)
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