A nearly two-year-old ethics investigation of Supreme Court justices by Democratic senators details more lavish travel by Justice Clarence Thomas and calls on Congress to establish a new way to enforce a code of conduct.
Any movement on the issue appears unlikely as Republicans prepare to take control of the Senate in January, even as public confidence in the court has fallen to record lows. Regardless, it highlights the hurdles to imposing restrictions on another government sector.
A 93-page report released Saturday by the Democratic majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee revealed additional travel Thomas took in 2021 but was not reported on his annual financial disclosure form. That included a private jet flight to New York’s Adirondacks and a jet and yacht trip to New York in July. In October, New York City reported that Thomas was sponsored by billionaire Harlan Crowe, one of more than 20 reports detailing that he received lavish trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors. Ta.
The court adopted its first ethics code in 2023, but compliance is up to each of the nine justices.
Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, the committee’s chairman, said in a statement that “the highest court in the land cannot have the lowest ethical standards.” He has long called for an enforceable code of ethics.
Republicans protested the subpoenas granted to Crow and others as part of the investigation. Not a single Republican signed on to the final report, and no formal report from Republicans was expected.
A spokesperson for Mr. Crowe said that Mr. Crowe voluntarily agreed to provide information for the investigation, but that no specific instances of undue influence were identified. Crowe said in a statement that Thomas and his wife, Gini, had been unfairly vilified. “They are good and honorable people and no one should be treated this way,” he said.
Mark Paoletta, a longtime friend of Thomas and an appointee to the incoming Trump administration, said the report was aimed at conservative Democrats who disagree with the ruling.
“This entire investigation was never about ‘ethics’, but an attempt to undermine the Supreme Court,” Paoletta said in a statement published in X.
The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr. Thomas said he did not have to disclose any trips he and his wife took with Crowe because the major donor was a close family friend and disclosure of such travel was not previously required. . The new code of ethics explicitly requires it, and Thomas subsequently returned home and reported his trip.
The report goes back to Justice Antonin Scalia, which it said “established a habit” of accepting private gifts and hundreds of trips during his decades as a judge. The late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired Justice Stephen Breyer also agreed to travel, but they disclosed this in their annual report.
The investigation found that Mr. Thomas had received gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors worth more than $4.75 million by some estimates since his 1991 admission, much of which he did not disclose. . “The number, value, and extravagance of gifts received by Judge Thomas are unparalleled in modern American history,” the report said.
He also detailed Justice Samuel Alito’s lavish trip to Alaska in 2008. He said he was exempt from disclosing the trip under previous ethics rules.
Alito also faces lawsuits involving Donald Trump and the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol after riot-related flags were seen flying at two of Alito’s homes. He also rejected calls for withdrawal. Alito claims his wife raised the flag.
Mr. Thomas has also ignored calls to recuse himself from lawsuits involving Mr. Trump. Ginny Thomas supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, which the Republican Party lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
The report also points to intense scrutiny of Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who, with the help of her staff, has spent the past decade promoting her book through university visits. The judge has also heard cases involving book publishers and cases involving companies in which the judge owned stock.
Biden is the most prominent Democrat calling for a binding code of conduct. Judge Elena Caganhas publicly supported introducing an enforcement mechanism, but some ethics experts said it could be legally difficult.
Justice Neil Gorsuch recently cited this code when recusing himself from environmental litigation. Gorsuch was facing calls to resign because it could end up benefiting a Colorado billionaire he represented before becoming a judge.
The report also calls for changes to the Judicial Council, the federal court watchdog body headed by Chief Justice John Roberts, and further investigation by Congress.
