The Chief Justice and His Wife Took $20 Million From Firms He Rules On. I'm Filing for His Disbarment Today

[pnwmom]

Over sixteen years of federal financial disclosure forms, Chief Justice John Roberts mischaracterized more than twenty million dollars in household income from law firms appearing before the Supreme Court. He concealed his wife’s equity stake in her employer for three consecutive years. He failed to recuse from more than five hundred cases argued at the Supreme Court by law firms that had paid his household millions in commissions. He architected the Court’s first ethics code and designed it to be unenforceable. This is a course of conduct stretching across two decades, connected by a single through-line: the belief that the rules that apply to every other federal judge do not apply to him.

The governing standard is 28 U.S.C. § 455, which applies to every federal judge including Supreme Court justices. Three of its subsections matter here, and a judge only needs one of them to trigger the recusal obligation. Roberts triggers all three.

Subsection (a) says a judge “shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.” This is the appearance standard, and it does not require actual bias. It requires only that a reasonable person knowing the facts would question the judge’s impartiality.

That’s the lowest bar, and it’s the easiest to satisfy. The next two are more specific and even more difficult to evade.

https://cmarmitage.substack.com/p/the-chief-justice-and-his-wife-took

[Cha]

1. TY Kick.. Crooks!

[calimary]

2. SHEESH, sometimes it seems like EVERYBODY's on the take.

[Aussie105]

4. Goodness!

You may be on to something there!

Corruption close to home is harder to see than corruption in other countries for some reason.

[Baitball Blogger]

21. Our society has been leaning in this direction for as long as I have been paying attention.

Quid pro quos are common at the local level, so people learn how to step out of the way or suffer the consequences. People that try to stop them anyway, eventually figure out it's impossible to do because the political networks have neutered the criminal justice system that should step in to remove corruption in politics. And the criminal justice system picks their balls off the floor and tell the victims that they can vote the corrupt official out of office. But how is that possible when the media is owned by corrupt political system as well?

And, don't forget that this elected officials return to neighborhoods where they can continue their greedy overreaches in any number of ways.

[Aussie105]

3. When you are Big and Important you can do that.

Money gained by being 'Smart&Important' (TM) soothes any moral qualms that may pop up, and laws . . . well, yeah, but they don't apply to some.

[33taw]

5. To be replaced by whom?

[mike_c]

11. there's the rub

Disbarring Roberts would create another Court opening for Trump. Leaving him alone tacitly condones corruption in high office. The question becomes whether the latter is more acceptable than the former. My personal feeling is that knowingly leaving corrupt officials in office is worse, and that congressional oversight should constrain Trump's nominations, but with republican senators in full lick-spittle mode it's pretty much a given that they won't do their duties.

Much housecleaning is needed. Much.

[summer_in_TX]

27. My hope is this disbarment effort takes time...

But the publicity helps fuel major court reforms, including impeachment, at just the right time to hold him fully accountable.

[DFW]

6. Wouldn't it be sensational if THIS were to gain some traction.

The accusations would need to have some serious teeth to them for this to go anywhere other than the round file, but IF they do, the media will be forced to run with it, because the world’s media won’t let it go, if true. But anything this serious would need to be solid. Rumors and conjecture aren’t going to bother him much.

[NJCher]

7. The way I read this

He set up the first code and then flagrantly violated it, acting like it was nothing:

Snip

He architected the Court’s first ethics code and designed it to be unenforceable.

Snip

It’s all there in.black and white, meaning the contracts his wife did.

Appearance of impropriety? Most certainly yes, and as the article states, it’s the lowest bar.

We’ve all known about this. It’s nothing new— but what is new is the context. With trump and his sons so flagrantly on a cash grab from the U.S Treasury, Roberts is now just another sleaze. Trump publicly noted that when he thanked him.

He might as well be swept out the door, too.

The beautiful part is, just like trump, he did his own self in.

[cayugafalls]

8. It's a big club, and we aren't in it.

George Carlin, paraphrased

[NJCher]

9. If I was offered admittance

I would turn it down.

My good name and legacy would mean more.

[lindysalsagal]

20. All Hail the Prophet Carlin!

His Gospels are my FAV!

[mike_c]

10. wow-- that's a pretty damning article

Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

[democrank]

12. K & R

[Whip-poor-will]

13. Crook

That explains the smirk .

[malaise]

14. Important

K & R

[Buckeyeblue]

15. This is nothing new

His wife has gotten paid millions to essentially be a head hunter for top law firms. It's insane.

[summer_in_TX]

28. Yes, but now we know he concealed it on tax forms.

Al Capone’s first real accountability came through the IRS.

[Kid Berwyn]

16. In the immortal words of James Brown...

“I told ya so.”



”They come to me.” -- Mrs. Jane Roberts, wife of Chief Justice John Roberts

https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20475159

[Wednesdays]

17. I'd call for his impeachment, but

...with this Congress, I realize that's an exercise in futility.

[Bluepinky]

18. There doesn't seem to be ANY Republican in office who isn't a corrupt liar!

[MagickMuffin]

19. That's why they don't want to retire, millions to be made

Also John Roberts came from the corporate world, and has ruled in their favor since getting his cushy job as a corporate lawyer on the Supreme court.

Corporations ARE people!

[leftyladyfrommo]

22. That's why they keep Trump. If he goes down they

all good down.

[angrychair]

23. This will not remove him from the bench

Last edited Fri Apr 24, 2026, 12:15 PM - Edit history (1)

Even if he loses his law license.
Funny enough there is no requirement that SCOTUS judges have a law degree or even have any legal experience at all. The court that rules and is the final arbiter of the supreme law of the land, is not required to know anything about the law at all. In fact if they wanted to make a 18 year old high school drop out a Supreme Court Justice, there is literally nothing in the Constitution that prevents that.

[summer_in_TX]

29. Right - but eventually a Congress with a strong

majority of Democrats and a Democratic president could impeach him.

[republianmushroom]

24. And we are told "No one is above the LAW". wink, wink, chuckle, chuckle, ha, ha

Maybe true but some just don't have to answer to it.

[summer_in_TX]

25. John Roberts actually hid the commissions his wife was earning and called it all salary on several years

of tax filings. He absolutely knew it was wrong.

Disbarment is warranted. It may be unlikely to remove him from SCOTUS, but it will show America that his written opinions are likely as corrupt as he is. The publicity will further sink opinion of SCOTUS. The more the corruption is exposed, the more likely it is that the broad American public will support reforms, like an enforceable ethics policy and an expanded court.

Turns out anyone can file a request for disbarment. The more complaints the more likely the investigation will grow legs. And the more likely the corruption gets splashed across all the media outlets.

[LostOne4Ever]

26. Impeach him once the Republicans are out of the White House

That way a decent judge will replace him.