Sen. Mike Lee’s new book, “Why John Roberts Was Wrong About Healthcare,” includes a dramatic theory — that the leading Supreme Court justice did not want to rule in favor of Obamacare but was pressured and intimidated.
In a radio interview on Tuesday with Glenn Beck, Mr. Lee said that initial indications were that Mr. Roberts was going to vote against the constitutionality of The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. But that a very public “campaign of intimidation” pushed him to vote on the side of the government.
The Supreme Court ultimately approved Obamacare in a 5-4 ruling handed down on June 28, 2012.
The vote would have gone the other way, Mr. Lee said, in The Blaze. But somewhere along the process of court debate, Chief Justice Roberts reversed course.
“The opinion was written in a way to suggest he switched his vote,” Mr. Lee said, in The Blaze. On top of that, several media organizations reported just that — the chief justice suddenly swerved in support of Obamacare.
And then, Mr. Lee said, there was the whole “legal gymnastics” the court had to do in order to make the health care reform pass the constitutional litmus test. The court basically rewrote portions of the bill twice and completely revamped arguments on whether the fines were taxes, Mr. Lee said, in The Blaze.
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At the same time, Mr. Lee said he has “no evidence” Mr. Roberts was blackmailed. But he could have been under “direct pressure,” and the Democrats at the time were sure issuing clear warnings about the potential for the court to “denigrat[e] the authority of the house,” he said, The Blaze reported.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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