Judge tosses Trump-linked lawsuit targeting Chief Justice Roberts, dealing setback to Trump allies

A federal judge on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit filed by a pro-Trump legal group seeking access to a trove of federal judiciary documents, including from a body overseen by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts - putting an end to a protracted legal fight brought by Trump allies seeking to access key judicial documents. 

U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee assigned to the case earlier this year, dismissed the long-shot lawsuit brought by the America First Legal Foundation, the pro-Trump group founded by White House policy adviser Stephen Miller after Trump's first term; Miller, now back in the White House, is no longer affiliated with AFL.

McFadden ultimately dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction, saying Thursday that two groups responsible for certain regulatory and administrative functions for the federal judiciary are an extension of the judicial branch, and therefore protected by the same exemptions to federal laws granted to the judiciary.

"Nothing about either entity's structure suggests the president must supervise their employees or otherwise keep them 'accountable,' as is the case for executive officers," McFadden said.

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The lawsuit by AFL was first reported by Fox News Digital earlier this year. It named both Chief Justice Roberts in his capacity as the official head of the U.S. Judicial Conference, and Robert J. Conrad, the director of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, and sought access to a trove of judicial documents from both bodies under the Freedom of Information Act.

AFL accused both groups of performing regulatory actions that the lawsuit argued exceeded the scope of the "core functions" of the judiciary, and which it argued should subject the groups to the FOIA requests as a result.

AFL cited recent actions the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office had taken in 2023 to "accommodate" requests from Congress to investigate allegations of ethical improprieties by Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and subsequently to create or adopt an "ethics code" for justices on the high court.

"Under our constitutional tradition, accommodations with Congress are the province of the executive branch," AFL argued.

"The Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are therefore executive agencies," and must therefore be overseen by the president, not the courts, they said.

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McFadden disagreed, rejecting the group's argument that "courts" under FOIA refers only to judges. He concluded that both the Judicial Conference and the Administrative Office are components of the judicial branch and therefore exempt from FOIA.

"Indeed, if America First were right that only judges and 'law clerks,' who 'directly report to the judge,' count as part of 'the courts,' numerous questions arise, and senseless line drawing ensues," he said in a memo opinion accompanying his order. "Rather, FOIA's exclusion reflects that courts include a full range of 'judicial adjuncts,' from 'clerks' to 'court reporters,' who perform 'tasks that are an integral part of the judicial process.'" 

Plaintiffs for AFL, led by attorney Will Scolinos, had argued in their lawsuit earlier this year that the Judicial Conference's duties are "executive functions" and functions they allege must be supervised by executive officers "who are appointed and accountable to other executive officers." 

Courts "definitively do not create agencies to exercise functions beyond resolving cases or controversies or administratively supporting those functions," the group had argued.

The U.S. Judicial Conference is the national policymaking body for the courts. Overseen by the chief justice, it issues policy recommendations and reports to Congress as needed.

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The Administrative Office for the U.S. Courts, meanwhile, operates under the guidance and supervision of the Judicial Conference. Its role is to provide administrative support to the federal courts on certain administrative issues and for day-to-day logistics, including setting budgets and organizing data, among other things.

The news comes as President Donald Trump, in his first year back in the White House, has relied heavily on executive orders to advance his agenda - a strategy that has accelerated implementation of campaign promises but also prompted a surge of legal challenges.

Trump's actions sparked hundreds of federal lawsuits this year alone, sending tensions skyrocketing between the executive branch and the courts, including federal judges who have blocked or paused some of Trump's biggest priorities in his second term.