The top adviser to Chief Justice John Roberts said the Supreme Court’s leader is cautious about wading into political disputes in order to protect the “long game” of ensuring judicial independence.

Robert Dow, a federal judge who serves as counselor to Roberts, defended the chief justice after criticism that his annual end-of-year report contained a thinly veiled rebuke of incoming President Donald Trump as he spoke out against rising intimidation and threats against judges.

“There is of course no place for violence directed at judges for doing their job. Yet, in recent years, there has been a significant uptick in identified threats at all levels of the judiciary,” Roberts wrote on Dec. 31, 2024.

Speaking Wednesday at the 6th Circuit Judicial Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, Dow said

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