It’s not impossible that Trump orchestrated the whole Gorsuch leak episode

[Commentary] Trump's Supreme Court nominee, Judge Neil Gorsuch, criticized the chief executive's attacks on the federal judge who put his travel ban on hold. Judge Gorsuch reportedly called those attacks “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” On its face, this is a remarkable story. But dig a little deeper and the conspiracy theories begin to seem, well, not so conspiratorial.

Judge Gorsuch approved of Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) publicizing the comments; Gorsuch spokesman Ron Bonjean, an old Washington communications pro, confirmed quickly that Judge Gorsuch had used the words; and Kelly Ayotte, the former Republican senator from New Hampshire who is shepherding Gorsuch's nomination, confirmed the truth of the leak. White House counselor Kellyanne Conway seemed to suggest that the episode was an example of Trump's hands-off approach to his court and Cabinet picks. You can see why people might raise an eyebrow. After all, what better way for Judge Gorsuch to overcome Democratic senators' skepticism about him than to show some independence from President Trump? What better signal that he recognizes the clear separation between the executive branch and the judicial branch? Even if you don't believe in conspiracy theories, you'd be hard-pressed to come up with a better scenario to help establish Judge Gorsuch as his own man, not beholden to the President.