I'm just curious why you think it helps the Republican cause? When I saw this reported in the media my feel was this is something Democrats are going to latch on to demonstrate the government is seeking to intimidate the judicial branch.

I guess it can have different interpretation.

Either way I'd really prefer not to see this stuff on Hacker News. We have enough things that push people buttons in other places.

HN has degraded a little since I joined some years ago. It is still better than most of the online fora out there, but you can feel the change in the posts.