He first assigned the case to Alito but took it over himself days after the Times revealed Alito’s wife Martha-Ann hung an upside-down U.S. flag—an emblem of the “Stop the Steal” movement, and propagated by some Jan. 6 rioters—outside his home, according to the Times.

The Supreme Court was hit by a flurry of damaging new leaks Sunday as a series of confidential memos written by the chief justice were revealed by The New York Times.The court’s Chief Justice John Roberts was clear to his fellow justices in February: He wanted the court to take up a case weighing Donald Trump’s right to presidential immunity—and he seemed inclined to protect the former president.

Politics are playing a bigger role in Supreme Court decisions and John Roberts is pulling the lever - Chief Justice historically has tried to keep the Supreme Court out of politically charged discours

Behind the scenes, the chief justice molded three momentous Jan. 6 and election cases that helped determine the former president’s fate.

One memo previewed the Supreme Court's decision to grant Trump broad official immunity, overruling a lower court