CNN
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Top Senate Democrats on Saturday accused conservative Supreme Court justices of violating federal disclosure laws in a lengthy report summarizing a months-long investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee, increasing the number of Republicans in control of the chamber. Submitted a week ago.
A report by aides to Sen. Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the committee, alleges that conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito received lavish trips and other gifts from wealthy businessmen. Failure to disclose the information “constitutes a violation of federal law,” the statement said.
Mr. Durbin’s report is perhaps the most comprehensive and detailed description of luxury travel, private jet flights, and real estate transactions arranged for some justices, but largely because they have not been publicly known for months. The government is warning people to be careful about traveling and gifts. The report appears to be aimed at clarifying the court’s questionable record as Democrats prepare to hand over power to Republicans.
“As a result of the information gathered through subpoenas, we now know now more than ever the extent to which the Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making,” Durbin said in a statement. “It is clear that judges are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of sycophantic billionaires.”
A Supreme Court spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment.
Similar allegations have been raised before, including by Mr. Durbin, and the federal judiciary’s policy division has been investigating claims that Mr. Thomas’ actions violated the Freedom of Information Act for more than a year. Mr. Thomas and Mr. Alito both cited “personal entertainment” as exempt from annual reporting requirements, which exempted them from the requirement to report travel.
Federal law enforcement officials revealed last year that rules require jurists to disclose non-commercial stays at resorts and use of private jets. In response to protests over Thomas’ trip, the Supreme Court adopted its first-ever code of conduct a year ago, but the document quickly came under criticism because it contained no enforcement mechanism.
Mr. Durbin’s report also details this year’s scandal over the controversial flying of two flags, including an upside-down American flag, over property owned by Mr. Alito. And Thomas “violated the law multiple times” by refusing to recuse himself from lawsuits related to the 2020 presidential election, despite the political advocacy of his wife, Ginny Thomas, who supports then-President Donald Trump. he claimed.
Federal law gives judges wide discretion to make recusal decisions on their own. The law requires spouses to recuse themselves if they have an “interest that could materially affect the outcome” of the case.
Republicans, including Trump, defended Thomas and Alito, accusing Democrats of trying to undermine the court’s conservative majority by focusing on ethics.
With Republicans in control of the Senate and the White House, it is certain that the ethics proposals Durbin and other Senate Democrats have supported in recent months will be shelved.
“The Majority Staff Report, in which he plays the most important role, is not just the Thomas Report,” Gabe Ross, executive director of the nonprofit advocacy group Fix the Court, said in a statement. Ta. “This shows that nearly all of the justices, liberals and conservatives, the justices who recently left the court, and the nine justices currently serving, have misjudged their ethical responsibilities. There is.”
This story has been updated with new reporting.
