Conservative leaders sign letter calling for Schumer censure over alleged threats to Kavanaugh, Gorsuch

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Media split as Schumer scolded

Chief justice rips threat to Kavanaugh, Gorsuch.

EXCLUSIVE: Dozens of well-known conservative leaders signed a letter released Monday that calls for the censure of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer after the New York Democrat allegedly threatened Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch last week.

Those who signed the letter include former South Carolina Sen. Jim DeMint; former Ronald Reagan campaign adviser Ed Rollins; Republican Attorneys General Association Chairman and Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry; and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, among others.

The open letter to U.S. senators, organized by the pro-Trump Article III Project, which is dedicated to helping get the president's judicial nominees confirmed, says that Schumer's previous apology for the remarks was insufficient and cites Chief Justice John Roberts' statement which called Schumer's remarks "not only inappropriate" but "dangerous." It calls for the Senate to censure him.

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"Schumer’s threatening words were unmistakable, unprecedented, and unacceptable," the letter read. "Contrary to what his spokesman later claimed, Schumer’s words were not addressed to Senate Republicans, but to two Supreme Court Justices, by name. Schumer’s threat wasn’t that Republicans would face electoral consequences, but that Justice Gorsuch and Justice Kavanaugh 'will pay the price' and 'won’t know what hit them.'"

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Schumer made the comment in question while speaking at a rally in front of the Supreme Court while it was hearing a high-profile abortion case last Wednesday.

"I want to tell you, Gorsuch. I want to tell you, Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price!" Schumer said. "You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions."

The comments led to the near-universal condemnation of Schumer, including from Roberts; liberal Harvard Law professor Laurence Tribe; the anti-Trump husband of Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, George Conway; and more.

Schumer's office initially issued a statement firing back at Roberts, which said that the chief justice was intentionally taking Schumer's comments out of context while also accusing Roberts of bias. "Justice Roberts does not just call balls and strikes," the statement said.

He later issued a soft apology on the Senate floor, saying, "I shouldn’t have used the words I did."

Nevertheless, Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., introduced a resolution to censure Schumer in the Senate, which Monday's letter supports.

"In a better world, this episode would mark the end of Chuck Schumer’s political career," it says. "But even in America in 2020, it should be a permanent blot on Schumer’s record. We therefore strongly support a resolution to censure Schumer on the Senate floor."

The letter also calls Schumer's comments a threat that "is unprecedented in the history of our nation." It compares the minority leader's words with Trump's calls for Justices Sotomayor and Ginsburg to recuse themselves from cases related to his administration and former President Barack Obama's comments about the high court's ruling in Citizen's United during a State of the Union Address with six justices in attendance, saying that neither was nearly as bad as what Schumer said.

"There is simply no parallel to Schumer’s threat, which he directed to two justices by name," the letter says.

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Other signatories include Mike Davis, the founder and president of the Article III Project; William Chamberlain, the editor in chief of Human Events; Matthew Heiman, associate director of George Mason law school; Jessica Anderson, president of Heritage Action; Kelly Shackelford, the president and CEO fo the First Liberty Institute; Cleta Mitchell, a partner and political law attorney at Foley and Lardner; Rachel Bovard, the senior policy director for the Conservative Partnership Institute; Eric Beach, chairman of the Great Again PAC; Ian Prior, a former Department of Justice spokesman; Jenny Beth Martin, the honorary chairman of Tea Party Patriots Action; and Terry Campo, the former general counsel of the Senate Judiciary Committee.