Someone had to do it, and Leonard Leo stepped into the breach. After his election in 2016, Trump was in an awkward position. Despite all the bluff and swagger, Donald Trump was completely unprepared to do the job, one critical piece of which was the appointment of judges, the most critical of which was the appointment of justices to the Supreme Court. Trump had no clue who to pick, and so he needed someone with the basic knowledge of who was who. Leo, a Cornell educated lawyer and long-time vice president of the Federalist Society, filled the role of advising Trump.

Trump thought Leo was giving him names of justices who would be “his guys,” reliably serving him and being his rubber stamp. Whether this was because Trump didn’t understand the role judges and justices play, mistaking their conservative bona fides for being his minions on the courts, is unclear.

Perhaps that’s how Leo sold his choices to Trump. Perhaps that was just Trump’s assumption. Perhaps Leo knew he was dealing with an easily manipulated fool and used the opportunity to put into place the conservative judges and justices he believed would best serve his ideological views, knowing that Trump had neither better alternatives nor any better option than to accept the names Leo provided.

And then it all fell apart when Trump realized that just because he appointed certain judges and justice, he didn’t own them and they wouldn’t do his bidding. When a Trump-appointed judge on the Court of International Trade joined the unanimous ruling holding that he lacked any lawful authority to impose tariffs at will, Trump lost it.

The U.S. Court of International Trade incredibly ruled against the United States of America on desperately needed Tariffs but, fortunately, the full 11 Judge Panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Court has just stayed the order by the Manhattan-based Court of International Trade. Where do these initial three Judges come from? How is it possible for them to have potentially done such damage to the United States of America? Is it purely a hatred of “TRUMP?” What other reason could it be? I was new to Washington, and it was suggested that I use The Federalist Society as a recommending source on Judges. I did so, openly and freely, but then realized that they were under the thumb of a real “sleazebag” named Leonard Leo, a bad person who, in his own way, probably hates America, and obviously has his own separate ambitions. He openly brags how he controls Judges, and even Justices of the United States Supreme Court — I hope that is not so, and don’t believe it is! In any event, Leo left The Federalist Society to do his own “thing.” I am so disappointed in The Federalist Society because of the bad advice they gave me on numerous Judicial Nominations. This is something that cannot be forgotten! With all of that being said, I am very proud of many of our picks, but very disappointed in others. They always must do what’s right for the Country! In this case, it is only because of my successful use of Tariffs that many Trillions of Dollars have already begun pouring into the U.S.A. from other Countries, money that, without these Tariffs, we would not be able to get. It is the difference between having a rich, prosperous, and successful United States of America, and quite the opposite. The ruling by the U.S. Court of International Trade is so wrong, and so political! Hopefully, the Supreme Court will reverse this horrible, Country threatening decision, QUICKLY and DECISIVELY. Backroom “hustlers” must not be allowed to destroy our Nation! The horrific decision stated that I would have to get the approval of Congress for these Tariffs. In other words, hundreds of politicians would sit around D.C. for weeks, and even months, trying to come to a conclusion as to what to charge other Countries that are treating us unfairly. If allowed to stand, this would completely destroy Presidential Power — The Presidency would never be the same! This decision is being hailed all over the World by every Country, other than the United States of America. Radical Left Judges, together with some very bad people, are destroying America. Under this decision, Trillions of Dollars would be lost by our Country, money that will, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN. It would be the harshest financial ruling ever leveled on us as a Sovereign Nation. The President of the United States must be allowed to protect America against those that are doing it Economic and Financial harm. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

A sleazebag? A bad person? Hates America? Unwittingly, Trump’s argument is that he was duped because he had no clue what he was doing. So much for the “best people” being appointed by a “stable genius,” but that, of course, wasn’t really the case. Trump needed to come up with an excuse to explain away the hard, cold fact that a judge he appointed ruled against him. In Trump’s head, this wasn’t possible unless there was some conspiracy involving Trump hatred. And if there was some conspiracy to undermine him, its ring leader was Leonard Leo, since there is always someone else to blame, to throw under the bus, when anything Trump does fails.

Leonard Leo had already made Trump’s enemies list, after his three choices for the Supreme Court failed to ignore the election, embrace the laughably baseless fallacy that Trump won in 2020 and keep Trump in power. But Trump still needed judges to appoint, still had no clue how he could get a judiciary packed with Aileen Cannons, and needed someone to give him names. But after the CIT fiasco, and the compulsion to find someone to blame, Leo was doomed.

The problem is that as much as many found Leonard Leo’s choices troubling, often bordering on downright awful, without Leo, where was Trump to find names of people to appoint to the bench? It’s not as if Trump had any clue, and at least Leo, for all his ideological obsession, generally stuck with choices that possessed the skill and experience, if not the impartiality or temperament, one would expect of a federal judge.

Despite the falling out between Trump and Leo, many legal conservatives said in recent months that they expected him to remain influential in the choices Trump makes for judicial nominations in his second term.

But the full-on rupture evident in Trump’s social media post Thursday signals that Trump may now view nominees’ Federalist Society ties as toxic and any sign of a link to Leo could doom a potential nominee. That could lead to more extreme or inexperienced nominees for the federal bench, although all still require Senate confirmation.

As I might have mentioned once or twice in the past, the alternative to bad isn’t necessarily good. It can always get worse. Instead of an Amy Coney Barrett, consider Justice Jeanine Pirro. After all, it’s not as if Trump suddenly has viable knowledge of qualified judicial nominees, and as he’s conclusively proven, Trump favors personalities from Fox News as they’re at least people whose names he knows.