A Democratic report to the Senate Judiciary Committee details new allegations about “lavish gifts” that justices on the U.S. Supreme Court received from donors.
The 93-page report released Saturday concludes a nearly 20-month investigation led by outgoing Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin.
This builds on previous reporting by news outlet ProPublica that raised questions about potential conflicts of interest in the region’s highest court.
But the report claims to have uncovered previously unreported trips purportedly undertaken by Judge Clarence Thomas at the expense of prominent Republican supporter and real estate developer Harlan Crow.
Although other judges are mentioned by name in the report, it is Thomas who has received specific criticism.
“The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts received by Judge Thomas have no parallel in modern American history.” It’s in the report.
Judge Thomas has not yet publicly responded to the report’s claims.
Prominent Senate Democrats like Durbin have long urged the Supreme Court to enact a watertight ethics code to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure compliance with disclosure mandates.
In the report, Democrats criticized conservative Chief Justice John Roberts for not taking stronger action to crack down on obvious ethical lapses.
“Congress must take steps to restore public trust in the highest court because Chief Justice Roberts continues to be reluctant to implement the only viable solution to the court’s ethical crisis: an enforceable code of conduct,” the report said. It was stated in the report.
It criticized the court for failing to deal with “a self-created ethical crisis.”
Following ProPublica’s investigation, Roberts took steps to enforce the Supreme Court’s code of ethics.
The court previously had no such code. But critics have pointed out that the new law, which the justices unanimously agreed to in November 2023, does not include any means of enforcing the doctrine or investigating possible violations.
This sparked further public outcry. The polling firm Gallup reported on December 17 that trust in the U.S. judicial system has fallen to an all-time low, an outlier compared to other relatively wealthy countries.
Gallup found that a median of 55% of residents of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries expressed trust in the courts.
But in the United States, that figure was only 35%.
Saturday’s report is likely to contribute to that skepticism. The report itself acknowledges that public trust is at stake.
“The public is now much more aware of the extent to which certain judges have benefited and how these judges and their billionaire benefactors continue to operate with impunity,” he said.
The report states that “judges appointed by presidents of both parties” engaged in ethically questionable behavior. The report criticizes left-leaning Justice Sonia Sotomayor for initially failing to disclose University of Rhode Island travel and lodging information during her book tour.
But the report leaves aside some of the harshest criticism of Justice Thomas and his conservative colleagues Samuel Alito and the late Antonin Scalia.
Many of the events have previously been described in detail elsewhere. For example, the report notes that Judge Thomas failed to recuse himself from a case in which his wife, conservative activist Ginni Thomas, had a stake in the outcome. The report claims this constitutes a violation of federal law.
ProPublica has previously documented Thomas’ trips aboard Crow’s yacht and private jet, potentially worth thousands of dollars. But Saturday’s report also highlights two newly revealed trips to Saranac, N.Y., and New York City in October 2021.
In previous public statements, Thomas insisted he had “always tried to adhere to public guidelines.” He also described his outing with Crow as a “family trip” with his “dearest friends.”
Another friend of Judge Thomas, attorney Mark Paoletta, responded to the Democrat’s report on social media.
He accused Democratic senators of “slandering” Judge Thomas and attacking the court, which is currently 6-3 heavily conservative.
“This entire investigation is not about ‘ethics’ but about an attempt to undermine the Supreme Court,” Paoletta wrote.
“The left invented dismissal standards to attack judges and force prosecutions in cases. “It didn’t work.”
Earlier this year, in June, Republican senators blocked a Democratic-led bill designed to create an enforcement mechanism for ethics violations on the court, called the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusals and Transparency Act.
But Republicans, such as Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, have questioned the constitutionality of the bill and said it is an overreach.
In January, Republicans are expected to take the majority in the Senate, which is currently led by Democrats. Once that happens, they will control both houses of Congress.
