Talking heads were in a frenzy and the headlines were flying when it was announced that the Supreme Court sided with Trump on presidential immunity.
However, according to a recent exclusive report by CNN, this case was one of the Supreme Court's toughest decisions since Chief Justice John Robers has presided over the nation's high court.
The report states that Roberts is no stranger to controversy and has often been criticized for his decision, with last minute switches and vote shifting marking his time in office.
Many consider these moves to be part of the chief justice participating in "playing politics," with a branch of government that shouldn't be partisan in any way.
In contrast, this was not the case in the spring of this year, when six conservatives nominated by the Republican party secured a quite extensive immunity from prosecution for former President Donald Trump.
As the justices convened in private in the oak-paneled conference room that is adjacent to the chief justice's chambers, sources who are acquainted with the negotiations told CNN that there was an early and straightforward 6-3 split.
There was not even a smidgen of the cross-ideological accord that distinguished decisions involving presidential powers in the past, and Roberts did not make any significant efforts to get the three liberal justices to concur with him. He believed he could persuade people to look beyond Trump.
During the previous decades, when the Supreme Court was faced with significant challenges to the power of the president, they have traditionally reached a consensus.
In spite of the fact that the bench and the entire Washington area are significantly more divided than they were in the past, Roberts was able to mediate compromises in two Trump document instances as recently as the year 2020.
The belief that Roberts would oppose any resounding victory for Trump and that a middle ground could be found on certain issues in the immunity dispute was conceivable to outsiders and even some justices within the court.
The chief justice's institutionalist inclination had been solidified in decision after decision over the previous two decades.
This is something Roberts spoke to frequently, including in 2018 when he chided Trump saying jurists have no political affiliation when they take on their robe:
“We do not have Obama judges or Trump judges, Bush judges or Clinton judges. What we have is an extraordinary group of dedicated judges doing their level best to do equal right to those appearing before them.”
The chief justice, who is now 69 years old and is about to begin his 20th term, appears to have dropped his typical concerns regarding the institution.
