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Chief Justice John Roberts has long aimed to stay above the political fray, but his goal is being put to the test as Democrats vow to intervene in the Supreme Court’s recent ethics controversies. 

Roberts’s refusal to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday left Democrats pulling no punches as they asserted that the justices cannot be trusted to police their own ethics. 

Republicans, meanwhile, portrayed the push as an attempt to smear Justice Clarence Thomas and the court’s other conservatives.

Even as the prospect of ethics legislation remains shaky in the divided Congress, the debacle has left Roberts, 68, grappling with how to remain neutral amid the partisan warfare and cratering public confidence in the high court.

Roberts’s absence came with little surprise. He has strived to insulate the court’s image from partisan politics since becoming chief justice in 2005, and Tuesday’s hearing consisted of outraged Democrats, on camera, delving into ProPublica’s investigation into luxury trips Thomas accepted from billionaire and GOP megadonor Harlan Crow. 

The chief justice had cited separation of powers concerns in declining Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin’s (D-Ill.) invitation, calling it an “exceedingly rare” offer.

“I’m more troubled by the suggestion that testifying to this Committee would somehow infringe on the separation of powers or threaten judicial independence,” Durbin said on Tuesday. “In fact, answering legitimate questions from the people’s elected representatives is one of the checks and balances that helps preserve the separation of powers.”

It follows a pattern of the decorum-conscious Roberts attempting to stay out of the partisan fighting on Capitol Hill. Even on ordinary topics, like the court’s budget, Roberts has left it to his colleagues to testify.

“One thing we have to do every year is get money from Congress, just like every other federal entity. And so we send a couple of justices to Congress, explain what we need, and they get it. Now, I knew that there are people on the court who are better at that than I am, so they go. I don’t go,” Roberts told Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute students in 2017.

After the 2010 State of the Union Address, when then-President Obama denounced the Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC ruling on campaign finance with the justices sitting feet away, the mild-mannered Roberts issued an unusual critique.

Speaking to law students weeks later, Roberts questioned why the justices participate in what he said had “degenerated into a political pep rally.” Roberts has attended every address since, while Justice Samuel Alito, who mouthed the words “not true” in an infamous moment after Obama’s snipe, never returned.

“Some people I think have an obligation to criticize what we do, given their office, if they think we’ve done something wrong, so I have no problems with that,” Roberts told the students.

“On the other hand, as you said, there is the issue of the setting, the circumstances and the decorum,” he continued. “The image of having the members of one branch of government standing up literally surrounding the Supreme Court cheering and hollering — while the court, according to the requirements of protocol, has to sit there expressionless — I think is very troubling.”

Years later, Roberts was back in the Capitol at the center of a bitter political battle: presiding over the impeachment trial of then-President Trump.

He emerged unscathed and earned bipartisan praise, but not without some testy moments. As the prospect rose of an even split on the crucial issue of whether to allow witnesses, Roberts announced he would not step in to break a tie.

“I think it would be inappropriate for me, an unelected official from a different branch of government, to assert the power to change that result so that the motion would succeed,” Roberts told senators.

Roberts has since avoided potentially going through the wringer on Capitol Hill. He declined to preside over Trump’s second impeachment trial, and on Tuesday, he dodged appearing before outraged Democrats. But that didn’t stop them from lambasting Roberts and the high court.

“What Chief Justice Roberts has done in refusing to come before this committee is judicial malpractice. It is a disservice to the courts,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).

Roberts did not return a request for comment through a spokesperson.

Republicans spent much of the hearing condemning what they view as a double standard, portraying the effort as an attempt to derail the conservative-majority court. 

They condemned Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) warning last year that two conservative justices would “pay the price” if they voted against abortion rights, protests outside conservative justices’ homes and the financial dealings of the court’s liberals.

“We’re going to push back as hard as we can and tell the American people the truth about what’s going on. This is not about making the court better. This is about destroying a conservative court. It will not work,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), the committee’s ranking member.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) had this take: “Today’s hearing is an excuse to slay more mud at an institution.” 

One Republican senator, Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), has joined Democrats’ calls, but the odds for passing any ethics legislation remain slim in the GOP-controlled House.

“It’s very difficult to do anything in a divided Senate, especially when the committee of jurisdiction is equally divided. I think Roberts is using that to his advantage and just taking the easy way out, because he knows there’s no real way to compel anything beyond that,” Gabe Roth, executive director of judicial watchdog group Fix the Court, said in an interview ahead of the hearing.

It wouldn’t be Democrats’ first failed attempt. Roughly a decade ago, Roberts rebuffed their calls to formally adopt the code of conduct in place for lower federal judges. He said the justices leverage it as a starting point, characterizing criticisms that the court is exempt from ethical principles “misconceptions.” Trump will not testify at E. Jean Carroll civil trial Hundreds of Democrats urge appeals court to reverse abortion pill ruling

Roberts added, “In particular, Congress has directed Justices and judges to comply with both financial reporting requirements and limitations on the receipt of gifts and outside earned income. The Court has never addressed whether Congress may impose those requirements on the Supreme Court.”

As the chief justice strives for an insular approach, he faces more than just angry lawmakers. Public confidence has declined sharply in the court, spurred by the court’s recent decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.

An NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll last month recorded that only 37 percent of Americans have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the court, the lowest measure recorded since the pollster began asking the question in 2018.

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Giants walk off on Bailey’s inside-the-park homer

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Giants walk off on Bailey's inside-the-park homer

SAN FRANCISCO — Patrick Bailey hit a three-run, inside-the-park home run with one out in the ninth inning, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday night.

Bailey became just the third catcher in MLB history to hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run, joining the Chicago Cubs’ Pat Moran in 1907 and the Washington Nationals’ Bennie Tate in 1926.

Bailey’s homer would have been an outside-the-park home run in 29 of 30 ballparks, with Oracle Park being the exception.

Mike Yastrzemski reached base twice and scored to help the Giants to their sixth win in seven games.

Casey Schmitt began the rally with a leadoff double. After Jung Hoo Lee popped out, Wilmer Flores lined a single to center.

Bailey, who grounded into a double play and struck out in two of his previous at-bats, then smashed a 1-0 fastball from Jordan Romano (1-4) into right-center field that ricocheted off the brick part of the wall.

Ryan Walker (2-3) retired one batter, with two on in the top of the ninth, to earn the win.

Phillies All-Star Kyle Schwarber had two hits, including his team-leading 28th home run.

Schwarber flew out, struck out and was hit by a pitch before homering off Giants reliever Spencer Bivens into McCovey Cove. Brandon Marsh, who singled as a pinch hitter leading off the inning, scored on the play.

Two days after being named an All-Star for the second time in his career, Robbie Ray gave up four hits and one run in 5⅔ innings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

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Ohtani takes Miz deep but phenom fans 12 in win

MILWAUKEE — Shohei Ohtani greeted Jacob Misiorowski with a leadoff homer, but the Milwaukee Brewers‘ rookie phenom got the last word.

After giving up Ohtani’s 431-foot blast, Misiorowski responded with another dominant outing. He struck out a career-high 12 batters — including two-way superstar Ohtani in the third inning — to lead the Brewers to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday night.

“It’s Shohei Ohtani,” Misiorowski said. “You kind of expect [that]. It’s cool to see him do it in action, but it fires me up even more coming back the next at-bat and striking him out. I’m right there. I think it was a moment of like, ‘OK, now we go.'”

Misiorowski, whose fastball routinely tops 100 mph, threw an 88.2 mph curveball on an 0-2 count to Ohtani, who crushed it for his 31st homer. That’s the most by a Dodgers player before the All-Star break.

It was the 21st career leadoff homer for the three-time MVP, who struck out swinging on a curveball in the third and walked to start the sixth. That was the only walk given up by Misiorowski, who scattered four hits.

“Really good stuff, aggressive in the zone,” Ohtani said through an interpreter. “But what really stood out to me was his command and control.”

Misiorowski outdueled three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw, who surpassed 3,000 career strikeouts in his previous outing. Asked Monday about his matchup with Misiorowski, Kershaw said he only knew that the 6-foot-7 right-hander threw hard.

“I know him now, huh?” Kershaw said Tuesday. “That was super impressive. That was unbelievable. It was really special. Everything. Obviously the velo, but he’s got four pitches, commands the ball. I don’t know how you hit that, honestly. That’s just really tough.”

Misiorowski was glad to get Kershaw’s attention.

“I saw something online that he didn’t now who I was, so I hope he knows me now,” Misiorowski said. “It’s kind of cool.”

In five starts since the Brewers called him up from the minors, Misiorowski has already beaten Kershaw and 2024 NL Rookie of the Year Paul Skenes. In another outing, Misiorowski carried a perfect game into the seventh inning.

“He’s just broken the shell,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “He’s just out of the egg, all arms and legs. He’s still got gooey stuff coming off, you can see it, all arms and legs, but there’s something special about him.”

The numbers would indicate as much. Misiorowski is 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA and has given up only 12 hits in 25⅔ innings.

He topped out at 101.6 mph and threw 20 pitches of at least 100 on Tuesday. He also threw 19 curveballs after using curves only 10% of the time before Tuesday.

He was coming off his only shaky performance, giving up five runs — including a grand slam by Brandon Nimmo — and three walks over 3⅔ innings Wednesday in a 7-3 loss to the New York Mets.

It looked as if it might be more of the same after Ohtani went deep. Misiorowski responded by striking out 12 of the next 16 batters.

“I think that’s my job, is to figure it out on the fly,” he said. “I feel like I did it tonight.”

He got out of a jam in the sixth. The Dodgers trailed 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one out, but third baseman Andruw Monasterio fielded a grounder and threw out Ohtani at the plate, and Misiorowski retired Michael Conforto on a grounder.

Misiorowski pumped his fist as he headed toward the dugout, then watched the Brewers’ bullpen nail down the win.

“It’s so satisfying,” Misiorowski said. “It’s just a dream come true, to do what I did.”

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Mets’ Mendoza: Snubbed Soto ‘an All-Star for us’

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Mets' Mendoza: Snubbed Soto 'an All-Star for us'

BALTIMORE — The New York Mets consider Juan Soto to be a bona fide All-Star, despite the snub he received from those who selected the National League squad for the Midsummer Classic on July 15.

Soto, in his first year with the Mets, has performed well enough to earn the respect of his manager and teammates. In their opinion, he’s deserving of a place in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta.

“He’s an All-Star for us,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Tuesday night after the Mets beat Baltimore 7-6. “It’s frustrating, but I’m hoping in the next couple of days we hear something and he makes it.”

Soto drove in the winning run with a sharp single on the first pitch of the 10th inning. That capped a night in which he went 3 for 5 to raise his batting average to .269 with 21 homers and 52 RBIs.

Soto has walked 72 times, by far the most in the majors, but he can also lash out at a pitcher when necessary.

“He’s got a pretty good understanding of what the pitchers are trying to do to him,” Mendoza said. “There is his awareness of the game, he’s going to see pitchers. There are times when he’s going to be aggressive. Tonight was one of those nights. First pitch in the 10th, he’s attacking.”

Soto made the All-Star team as a member of the Nationals, Padres and Yankees each year since 2021. The streak appears to be over. But his teammates believe he deserves to go.

“What he done all year is just incredible, and the results are good enough,” Mets starting pitcher Clay Holmes said. “The consistency he’s showed up with, at the at-bats he’s taken, is more than an All-Star. He’s one of the best in the game and a big part of our lineup.”

Soto seems rather philosophical about the snub.

“Sometimes, you’re going to make it and sometimes you don’t,” he told reporters after Sunday’s loss to the Yankees. “It’s just part of baseball.”

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