President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is dragging its feet in prosecuting Nicholas Roske, the man accused of trying to assassinate Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, leaving legal experts perplexed about the slow-moving pace of the case.
Roske was indicted for attempted murder of a Supreme Court justice nearly two years ago in June 2022, after allegedly traveling from his parent’s home in California to the Maryland suburbs of Washington, D.C., with the intent to kill Kavanaugh. Roske, a biological male who identified in some online posts as a transgender woman, was upset over the leaked Supreme Court draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade, according to court documents.
After arriving by taxi at Kavanaugh’s house, Roske called the police on himself and was eventually found with a suitcase full of guns, ammo, zip ties, and other tools to carry out the attack. However, the case—which one legal expert who spoke to the Washington Free Beacon called a "slam dunk" for federal prosecutors—has seen almost a dozen continuances since Roske last appeared in court in October 2022, and still no plea has been reached or trial date set.
"It’s noteworthy that after nearly two years, there is still no trial date or plea agreement in this case," Gerard Filitti, senior counsel at The Lawfare Project, told the Free Beacon. "While pretrial motions would resolve questions about the admissibility of some of the evidence, including statements made by Roske, there is no underlying procedural reason why it would take this long to get to trial."
Prosecutors' willingness to slow-walk the case comes amid an ongoing pressure campaign from progressives seeking to delegitimize the Supreme Court. Biden has repeatedly attacked the nation's High Court, including during last month's State of the Union address where he rebuked the conservative justices for overturning Roe v. Wade. Left-wing billionaires such as George Soros have also bankrolled efforts to pack the Court with more justices.
Filitti said that due to the case’s high visibility and political ramifications, it was possible prosecutors are seeking to "let public interest simmer down before a plea agreement is quietly announced."
"Roske, who, according to news reports, is biologically male but identified as a transgender woman, allegedly intended to kill a conservative Supreme Court justice over an upcoming ruling that ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade—this case involves issues that are still very much at the forefront of political and social debate, and a plea deal would likely receive significant scrutiny and criticism," he said.
Earlier this week, after entering into a plea agreement with prosecutors in December, a Florida man was sentenced to 14 months in jail for threatening to kill Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last July. That case moved far more quickly than the Roske case. Roske’s most recent court appearance was nearly a year and a half ago, and there has been little activity since then, aside from the frequent continuances and motions deployed by Roske’s defense.
Neither federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maryland, nor Roske’s defense counsel, responded to requests for comment.
Charles "Cully" Stimson, a former federal prosecutor who also spent time as a prosecutor, judge, and defense lawyer in the Navy and as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Detainee Affairs during the second Bush administration, agreed with Filitti that prosecutors in the Roske case were moving conspicuously slowly.
"I would think that if they have solid evidence and they can prove the intent, then there's very little reason for the government to offer very much at all, because this is a slow plea," Stimson added. "Slow plea is a term in the trial lawyer world for, ‘It’s a slam dunk for the government but the defendant wants his day in court and so they’re going to go through the motions of a trial.’"
The latest request for continuance from Roske’s defense counsel came on March 29, and seeks to drag things out for at least another month as Roske’s defense team and prosecutors continue their plea negotiations.