"We got into a little jam with Roberts. Roberts didn't tell us the truth. At least [Justice Samuel A.] Alito told us who he was," Mr. Reid, Nevada Democrat, said...
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, a Tennessee Republican who shepherded the chief justice's nomination through the Senate, said Mr. Reid's charge was off base.
"Senator Reid has compiled quite a catalog of mean and irrational statements about various people," Mr. Thompson said.
"The chief justice was very forthright in explaining that he would not tell the senators how he was going to vote but that he would follow the law and the intent of the framers. He's done exactly that, and that, of course, is anathema to Harry Reid."