{"id":1053144,"date":"2023-04-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/clarence-thomas-scotus-harlan-crow-durbin-ethics-investigation"},"modified":"2023-04-07T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-07T00:00:00","slug":"lawmakers-call-for-investigation-and-ethics-reforms-in-response-to-propublica-report-on-clarence-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2023\/04\/07\/lawmakers-call-for-investigation-and-ethics-reforms-in-response-to-propublica-report-on-clarence-thomas\/","title":{"rendered":"Lawmakers Call for Investigation and Ethics Reforms in Response to ProPublica Report on Clarence Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n by Justin Elliott<\/a>, Joshua Kaplan<\/a> and Alex Mierjeski<\/a> <\/p>\n \n\n \n \n

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories<\/a> as soon as they\u2019re published.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n\n\n \n

Influential Democratic lawmakers have called for immediate investigations and vowed to create stricter ethics rules following a ProPublica report<\/a> that revealed Justice Clarence Thomas has, for decades, failed to disclose luxury trips he received from a real estate magnate and conservative megadonor.<\/p>\n\n

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin<\/a>, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee \u2014 influential for its role in vetting and confirming Supreme Court nominees \u2014 said his panel is calling for an \u201cenforceable code of conduct\u201d for justices. \u201cThe ProPublica report is a call to action, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will act,\u201d Durbin said.<\/p>\n\n

Lawmakers and advocates have long called for codified ethics rules that prohibit the type of behavior uncovered by ProPublica\u2019s investigation.<\/p>\n\n

For more than two decades, records and interviews show, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from Dallas billionaire Harlan Crow without disclosing them. Thomas has vacationed on Crow\u2019s superyacht around the globe, flown on Crow\u2019s jet and typically spends about a week every summer at Crow\u2019s private resort in the Adirondacks, the investigation found.<\/p>\n\n

These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas\u2019 financial disclosures. His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices and other federal officials to disclose most gifts, ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said.<\/p>\n\n

A Supreme Court spokesperson didn\u2019t immediately respond to a request for comment regarding the lawmakers\u2019 calls for investigations.<\/p>\n\n

Thomas has not responded to ProPublica\u2019s questions about his travel. Crow told ProPublica that Thomas \u201cnever asked for any of this hospitality\u201d and that his treatment of the justice was \u201cno different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Crow said he has never discussed a pending case with Thomas. \u201cWe have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

While justices are required by law to disclose most gifts, there are few rules on what gifts justices can accept. That\u2019s in contrast to the other branches of government. Members of Congress are generally prohibited from taking gifts worth $50 or more and would need pre-approval from an ethics committee to take many of the trips Thomas has accepted from Crow.<\/p>\n\n

On Thursday, a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers said Thomas\u2019 failure to disclose the luxury vacations is an example of why public trust in the Supreme Court is faltering.<\/p>\n\n

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen<\/a> said in a statement<\/a> that Americans\u2019 confidence in the Supreme Court is \u201ctanking because of this kind of conduct.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

\u201cWe need answers,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd the Court needs a code of ethics.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse<\/a> said in a statement that the Supreme Court has lost its ethical compass, calling for Chief Justice John Roberts to open an investigation. \u201cIt\u2019s no wonder that the American people are losing faith in the idea that they can get a fair shake before the nation\u2019s highest court when they see a Supreme Court justice openly flouting basic disclosure rules in order to pal around with billionaires in secret,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

This year, Whitehouse and others introduced a bill<\/a> that would strengthen the Supreme Court\u2019s disclosure and recusal rules, among other reforms. In his statement, the senator called for a hearing and vote on the bill.<\/p>\n\n

\u201cThe Supreme Court urgently needs an enforceable system for holding justices accountable,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren<\/a> said<\/a> Americans deserve a judiciary that is \u201caccountable to the rule of law, not wealthy Republican donors.\u201d ProPublica\u2019s reporting, she added, \u201cis a stark reminder that judges should be held to the highest ethical standards and free from conflicts of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

So far, no current GOP lawmakers have addressed the revelations publicly. Sen. Lindsey Graham<\/a>, ranking member for Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee.<\/p>\n\n

At least two Democratic representatives have called for Thomas to be impeached or resign.<\/p>\n \n \n \n \n \n

\u201cJustice Thomas must resign immediately,\u201d said Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson<\/a>, a member of the House Judiciary Committee. Failing that, Johnson said, fellow justices should censure Thomas and the Department of Justice should investigate potential federal crimes \u201cto determine whether Justice Thomas remains fit to retain his license to practice law.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez<\/a> said on Twitter: \u201cThis is beyond party or partisanship. This degree of corruption is shocking \u2014 almost cartoonish. Thomas must be impeached.\u201d<\/p>\n \n \n\n \n \n

Do you have any tips on the courts? Josh Kaplan can be reached by email at joshua.kaplan@propublica.org<\/a> and by Signal or WhatsApp at 734-834-9383. Justin Elliott can be reached by email at justin@propublica.org<\/a> or by Signal or WhatsApp at 774-826-6240.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n\n\n \n \n

Brett Murphy<\/a> contributed reporting.<\/p>\n\n \n\n \n \n

This post was originally published on Articles and Investigations - ProPublica<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Elliott, Joshua Kaplan and Alex Mierjeski <\/p>\n

ProPu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27339,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10092],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053144"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27339"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1053144"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053144\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1053145,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1053144\/revisions\/1053145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1053144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1053144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1053144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}