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Via Drudge via Twitter, here’s the latest from gossip site Radar.com:

EXCLUSIVE: John Roberts, Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court, is seriously considering stepping down from the nation’s highest court for personal reasons, RadarOnline.com has learned exclusively…. RadarOnline.com has been told that Roberts, 55, could announce his decision at any time.

This is, obviously, not true.1 But what I’m curious about is where something like this comes from. When it’s celebrity gossip, you figure it comes from one of the thousands of sycophants and hangers-on that infest Hollywood and the celebrity world in general. But the Supreme Court? Who the hell peddles phony gossip about the Supreme Court?

1Yes, yes, maybe it is true. Then I’ll eat my words. But come on.

UPDATE: Question answered! It came from a Georgetown law professor who was playing a trick on his class. Apparently all it took was a quick text message from a student for this to hit the big time.

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

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