Mr. Spicer said that when Judge Gorsuch told senators that he considered such criticism “demoralizing” and “disheartening,” he was referring broadly to any such attacks on the judiciary. “It puts the judge in a very difficult spot,” said Leonard Leo, a top adviser to Mr. Trump on the Supreme Court process. “This might have been an attempt to make him look more independent,” Ms. Cutter said of Judge Gorsuch. Democrats were quick to jump on them as proof that Judge Gorsuch lacked judicial independence. Mr. Petkanas called it proof that the nominee “will be nothing more than a rubber stamp for this out-of-control Trump presidency.”

Source: New York Times February 10, 2017 01:39 UTC