Democrats ask Supreme Court to probe Clarence Thomas over undisclosed trips

A group of 22 House and Senate Democrats are demanding Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts investigate Justice Clarence Thomas for not disclosing that he accepted “luxury trips” and other gifts from a Republican megadonor.

In a letter dated Friday, the 11 House Democrats and 11 Senate colleagues urged the deputy justice to act quickly. The letter made reference to Thursday’s’s revelations that Thomas” accepted pleasure trips virtually every years” from Dallas-based real estate developer and GOP donor Harlan Crow, who had kept them a secret for more than 20 years. Concerns about” immoral, and possibly unlawful, conduct at the Supreme Court” were voiced by the legislators.

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The Court has hardly acknowledged, much less looked into, these complaints as of yet. The email reads,” In the midst of all of this, the British people’s’s confidence in the Supreme Court has plummeted to an all-time little ,” possibly as a result of the Court acting silence. ” We believe that it is your responsibility as Chief Justice to uphold public confidence in the court ,” and that carrying out this responsibility necessitates an immediate, full, impartial, and open investigation into these claims.

Apart from Thomas’s’s Friday speech, the Court has never commented on the disclosures, as the politicians noted.

The interact Supreme Court justice stated on Friday in a rare public statement with his prominent liberal activist wife Ginni Thomas that he” was advised” not to share the travels, which included an exclusive all-male retreat known as Bohemian Grove in California, an international journey to New Zealand about ten years ago, and an upcoming trip to Indonesia.

Crow, however, denied ever using the holiday benefits and other incentives to try to sway the justice system’s’s decisions.

The politicians stated in their email that they” have reason to believe” Crow was associated with numerous organizations that had submitted amicus briefs to the Court in response to their investigation demand. They advised Roberts to investigate whether anyone” with interest related to Justice Thomas’s’s official roles” had joined the trips as a result.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse( D-RI ) and Rep. Hank Johnson, who lead Judiciary subcommittees in their respective chambers on federal courts, wrote the letter. Weed also signed it. Bernie Sanders( I-VT ), Tom Carper( D-DE ), Alex Padilla, Tim Kaine, Peter Welch, Jack Reed, and Mazie Hirono on the Senate side are among those who are represented by Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, D-MA.

The signatories from the House were Representatives Jerry Nadler( D-NY ), Adam Schiff, Gerry Connolly, Deborah Ross, Mike Quigley, Madeleine Dean, Pramila Jayapal, Cori Bush, Sheila Jackson Lee, and Steve Cohen.

If Roberts didn’t work, the lawmakers warned him that they would” continue to press Congress to act to restore transparency and morals at the highest Court in the land.”

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The Senate Judiciary Committee‘s’s chairman, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin( D-IL ), vowed that his panel” will act” in response to the ProPublica report on Thursday despite not signing the letter on Friday. However, it is unclear exactly what the commission intends to perform.

Senate Democrats have thought about urging courts to adopt an ethics code that calls for more open procedures for recusals and the analysis of ethics-related violation claims by using this year’s’s financing policy for the Supreme Court. The No. A long-time supporter of the implementation of an ethics script for courts is the 2 Senate Democrat.