Hotel staff member helps direct vehicle traffic as demonstrators gather in front of the Trump Hotel in Washington, where Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is scheduled to speak at a luncheon. | Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP Gorsuch speech at Trump hotel attracts protests Justice promotes civility as critics denounce appearance for blurring ethical lines

Justice Neil Gorsuch’s decision to give one of his first speeches since joining the Supreme Court at the Trump International Hotel sparked protests that the judge is blurring ethical lines.

Gorsuch's appearance before a conservative group Thursday at one of President Donald Trump's flagship properties drew fire in part because at least five lawsuits are pending in federal courts claiming that Trump is violating the Constitution's foreign emoluments clause by failing to divest himself of his businesses.


Ethics watchdogs also complain that foreign countries and companies both domestic and foreign are seeking to hold events at the luxury Pennsylvania Avenue hotel in order to curry favor with Trump.

Legal experts expect one or more of those the suits to eventually reach the Supreme Court.

Several dozen protesters gathered outside the hotel before Gorsuch spoke, many of them declaring that Gorsuch's appearance at the Trump-owned and branded hotel signaled a corruption of the traditional independence of the Supreme Court.

"Who is Gorsuch? Such a sellout!" the demonstrators chanted. Some carried signs with similar messages, like "Gor$uch for sale."

In his 20-minute speech, Gorsuch made no direct comment on the controversy over his appearance, nor did he make any reference to the ownership of the hotel and the heavily gilded "Presidential Ballroom" in which he spoke.

However, the newly minted justice earnestly extolled the virtues of free speech, even as he repeatedly warned that such freedom creates a duty to be civil to others.

"Those with whom we disagree vehemently still have the best interests of the country at heart," Gorsuch said. "We have to learn not only to tolerate different points of view, but to cherish the din of democracy. ... It's not just about good manners and courtesy. It’s about keeping our republic."

"To be worthy of our First Amendment freedoms, we have to all adopt certain civil habits that enable others to enjoy them as well," the justice added.

Gorsuch spoke as part of a 50th anniversary celebration for the Fund for American Studies, a charitable group that sponsors scholarships and study programs. The organization's goal, according to its website, is "to win over each new generation to the ideas of liberty, limited government and free markets."

The fund is supported by a wide array of foundations, most of them with a conservative or libertarian bent, including the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation and the Charles Koch Foundation.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined those warning that the new justice was imperiling his impartiality by speaking at a venue owned by the president and his family.

“Justice Gorsuch speaking to a conservative group in the Trump Hotel, where the President continues to hold a financial stake, is everything that was wrong with his nomination. There's a reason we questioned his independence during his confirmation hearings," Schumer said in a statement.

Liberal groups wrote to Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday to complain about Gorsuch's appearance and to ask how the court plans to address the alleged conflict of interest.

"To the public the Trump Hotel appears simply as what it is: a paid gateway to presidential influence that operates under the color of presidential approval. Justice Gorsuch, in accepting an invitation to keynote an event, shows disregard for the Court’s ethical standards and traditions, for its sacred reputation, and, bluntly, for basic common-sense," officials from such groups as People for the American Way, NARAL and Planned Parenthood wrote.

"In an era of ruthless ideological divisions, Justice Gorsuch’s decision will undermine the Court’s public legitimacy as an entity above partisan politics," the organizations observed.

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Part of the speaking program Thursday also underscored Gorsuch's debt to the Trump White House. He was introduced by a top legislative affairs staffer to Trump, Mary Elizabeth Taylor.

Taylor, who took part in the fund's educational programs in 2010, was a so-called sherpa for Gorsuch on Capitol Hill during the confirmation process. Gorsuch warmly embraced her as he took the stage.

Gorsuch has not responded publicly to the complaints about his decision to speak at the Trump hotel. Ethics rules that apply to most federal judges don't apply to the Supreme Court, although justices themselves occasionally recuse themselves in specific cases, usually without explanation.

However, in brief remarks delivered just prior to Gorsuch's arrival, Fund for American Studies President Roger Ream insisted that the Trump hotel was selected before Trump's election and that the choice of various locations for the organization's events had no political significance.

"We didn’t choose any of these hotels for political reasons," Ream said. He went on to blast limits on free speech on college campuses and restrictions on donations to political campaigns.

In his remarks, Gorsuch praised the fund's work, but he focused on its role educating young people about the structure of American government and he made no reference to the organization's free market, antiregulation bent.

"Keeping our republic depends on certain very special conditions and perhaps highest on the list is the necessity of what the people know. That they know something about how their government works and what it is supposed to do and what it is not supposed to do,” Gorsuch said. “Monarchies and oligarchies have no need for widespread civic education. The ruling elite can easily enough pass down the science of government from generation to generation.”

The roughly 200 guests at the luncheon included a who's who of the conservative movement, such as former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Newsmax publisher and Trump confidant Christopher Ruddy and Club for Growth president David McIntosh.

Gorsuch also received a scolding from ethics watchdogs last week by making a pair of speaking appearances in Kentucky with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who led the Republican strategy to block President Barack Obama from filling the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin Scalia in February 2016. When questioned about a lack of legislative accomplishments by Congress this year, McConnell has often pointed to Gorsuch's confirmation as an achievement that could affect the country for generations.

"President Trump simply could not have made a better nominee," the Senate majority leader declared as he introduced Gorsuch at the University of Louisville last Thursday. The men also spoke at the University of Kentucky College of Law in Lexington.

It's unusual for a Supreme Court justice to hit the road for a speaking tour with a senator, particularly so soon after a highly partisan confirmation battle in which that lawmaker played a leading role.

Nevertheless, the junior justice told the audience in Louisville that party affiliation has no impact on his work.

“I don’t believe in red judges or blue judges,” Gorsuch said. “We wear black.”