If it wasn’t clear just how much trouble the government’s corruption prosecution of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell was, Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. left no doubt during U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments on April 27.
Seconds after deputy solicitor general Michael Dreeben began defending the government, Roberts interrupted to ask about what he called an “extraordinary document,” an amicus curiae brief on behalf of former White House counsels and Justice Department lawyers asserting that upholding the prosecution “will cripple the ability of elected officials to fulfill their role in our representative democracy.”
