Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, criticized President Trump’s personal attacks on a judge that ruled against Trump’s travel ban executive order while also downplaying the threat such comments actually have on federalism and the separation of powers.
“Those are not statements I would ever make, and in part because my late father would haunt me mercilessly from the grave if I ever did,” Lee said in an editorial board meeting with the Washington Examiner. “He was a strong believer in the fact that you can express disagreement with a ruling. You should never make it personal, and you should be careful even when criticizing a ruling not to denigrate or demean the law or the legal system itself.”
Lee’s father, Rex Lee, was a lawyer who argued 59 cases before the Supreme Court and was solicitor general from 1981 to 1985.
At the same time, Lee didn’t think comments like Trump’s were a serious threat to the separation of powers between the three branches of the federal government.
“But compared to other threats that we have to federalism and separation of powers, that is minuscule. … If we’re gonna obsess about something that’s deteriorated, separation of powers, I’d much prefer for us to focus on any of the other 5,000 examples I could point to of that. … There are other things, there are other words that are much more bound up with action, and that are much more consequential in terms of weakening separation of powers.”
On Feb. 4, Trump tweeted that, “The opinion of this so-called judge, which essentially takes law-enforcement away from our country, is ridiculous and will be overturned!” The judge had ruled in favor of a restraining order against Trump’s executive order banning certain travel visas from seven countries.
Jason Russell is the contributors editor for the Washington Examiner.
