The Supreme Court Is Handling the Election Differently Than in 2020. Uh-Oh.

The New York Times revealed behind-the-scenes details about how the Supreme Court’s conservative majority constructed the three major decisions last term that ensured former President Donald J. Trump would face no criminal accountability for the Jan. 6 insurrection before this November 's election.

Dahlia Lithwick and Linda Greenhouse discuss the new reporting on John Roberts' handling of the case.

David Gergen : It's not so much that John Roberts has taken a turn, it's that in this subset of cases, these ideas fit with an agenda he's had for a long time.

He says the notion that he has drifted from incrementalist centrist centrist centrist consensus-builder to something else is just overblown in the press.

Gergen says the court designs its workload in exactly the way it cares to.

And then we have this Purcell principle. Purcell says that if a case comes up shortly before an election, the court should not intervene. It’s invoked when the court chooses to invoke it, and is not invoked so much when the court does n’t . That’s all in the eye of the beholder. They invoke it when they have the votes, and when it serves their purposes. It’s very concerning, and we need to really watch it like hawks and call out what’s happening in real time, as it happens..