This is the opening statement delivered by Jack Smith, former Special Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 29, 2026. I’m including his statement in its entirety because, in Washington today, character, integrity, and courage are increasingly endangered virtues. Chairman Grassley, Ranking Member Durbin, and Members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity...

At a Trump-backed Christian prayer rally on the National Mall in Washington on May 17, officially called Rededicate 250: A National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise & Thanksgiving, thousands gathered beneath the familiar banners of faith, patriotism, and divine purpose. President Trump did not attend in person, but appeared by prerecorded video, reading Scripture and urging Americans to pray. Among Trump’s...

Justice… begins with fairness. Not fairness for the powerful, or the people we happen to like. Fairness for everyone. CBS News 24/7 reporter Camilo Montoya-Galvez pressed Acting U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche on whether President Trump could involve himself in Justice Department decisions about whom to investigate or prosecute. Blanche responded by pulling out a copy of the Constitution and...

As distilled from an email update from Michael Waldman, President and CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court struck down what remains of the Voting Rights Act. Soon, it will rule on the president’s birthright citizenship executive order, one that, as Waldman writes, “could upend what it means to be an American.” That is not...

The American judicial system was not designed to operate in chaos. It was built to move deliberately. Facts first. Arguments second. Judgment last. Simply put: the rule of law must be guided by reason rather than speed. Today, that system is under visible, relentless, and unending pressure. Two recent developments: One is the growing number of emergency appeals reaching the...

Superman—America’s original superhero—once stood tall as a symbol of everything this country aspired to be. Superman—who embodies courage, decency, and fairness. Superman—who fights for the common good, especially those who can’t fight for themselves. What’s wrong with that? A growing movement now seeks to define which heroes—real or fictional—are acceptable, and which are not. They question who deserves legal defense,...

As President Donald Trump celebrated the 250th anniversary of the U.S. military, one soldier was under attack. At Fort Drum, New York, Maj. Erica Vandal glanced at her phone. A message from her mother: “Just heard about the Supreme Court ruling. That totally stinks! How are you doing?” The court had just allowed Trump’s ban on transgender troops to take...

It begins subtly. A shrug at a cruel remark. A laugh at behavior once considered beneath the dignity of the office. A dismissal of a fact, a bending of the truth. “It’s just rhetoric,” they say. “He’s just being himself.” Norms don’t break overnight. They erode—quietly, steadily—until what was once outrageous becomes routine. But the temperature keeps rising. In April,...

Theodore Roosevelt didn’t plan to become president. In 1901, after President William McKinley was assassinated, the 42-year-old vice president was sworn in—becoming the youngest person ever to occupy the White House. Many in the Republican Party had hoped to sideline Roosevelt’s reformist energy by placing him in a quiet, symbolic role. But Roosevelt had other ideas. He brought his convictions...

Today’s Supreme Court is mired in partisanship and shadow rulings, where politics too often outweigh principle. Public trust continues to deteriorate for an institution meant to stand as a pillar of independence and impartial justice. In contrast, former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart understood the difference between what the law allows and what ethics demands. His quiet integrity reminds us...