![Sen. Jeff Flake in Scottsdale, Arizona, 2012. / [Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2017/8/25/660x290/b_502x220x82/sen-jeff-flake-in-scottsdale-arizona-2012-image-by-gage-skidmore-via-flickr-cc-by-sa-20_1532801.jpg "Sen. Jeff Flake in Scottsdale, Arizona, 2012. / [Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0]")
It was reported that Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ.) held a hearing for the Senate subcommittee he chairs where he proposed the passing of a bill that would break up the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. According to Politico, who first reported the hearing in an article titled "Flake hearing airs arguments to break up 9th Circuit", which was held in Phoenix where Flake was the only senator on the dais.
Jeff Flake targeted by Trump
According to the report, there were five witnesses present and the "vote" at the hearing was divided. The hearing took place only a few days after President Trump held a rally in the city where he laid out his attacks against Congress and stirred up more controversy.
One of the President's targets was Sen. Flake who he did not mention by name, but taunted the senator for being weak on border security. Flake has also "targeted" Trump in a new book where he calls out Republicans for not speaking out against the incendiary president which is considered the source of the President's attacks against the Arizona senator.
Sen. Flake still supportive of Trump's anti-court agenda
Despite this, by Sen. Flake holding a hearing about breaking up the 9th Circuit Court, he is contradicting the points he makes in his book. One of the five witnesses in attendance was Chief Judge Sidney Thomas of the 9th Circuit who argued against Flake's suggestion that breaking up the court would make processing cases go faster.
President Trump has taken interest in the 9th Circuit because of the blocking of his agenda by those same courts earlier in the year.
Breaking up the court
He said that the courts were already processing cases quickly, but the votes for Flake's bill were 3-2 at the hearing which made his defense moot. It's yet unknown what kind of support Congress will have to help pass the bill.
The jurisdiction would be broken up into a second court which would be referred to as 12th Circuit if it does pass.
Sen. Diane Feinstein, however, called out the effort by the Republican senator for what it was, a reaction to Trump's wishes to retaliate against a circuit that is largely under the control of Liberal judges. Since Donald Trump has been in office, he has waged war against all who oppose him, including judges who refuse to implement his agenda by rejecting his demands.
President Trump influencing the 9th Circuit
When the judges of the 9th Circuit have opposed Trump's agenda, the President has attacked them publicly saying that they were "so called" judges. Prior to becoming president, Donald Trump had already started normalizing his attacks on judges such as judge Curiel who was overseeing his Trump University fraud case. Because he had promised to build a border wall along the Mexican-American border, then candidate Trump called for Curiel's removal because of his Hispanic heritage, saying that Curiel would be biased in the final decision because of his willingness to build a wall to keep out Mexicans. It's also been reported that a judge that will be leaving the 9th Circuit for Seattle this year, which will now require him to be replaced by President Trump which already shows more examples of the President's influence in the system.
