Supreme Court Justices Involved In ‘Ethical Crisis,’ Senate Democrats Say

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Supreme Court Justices Involved In ‘Ethical Crisis,’ Senate Democrats Say

Topline

The Supreme Court has become weighed down by an “ethical crisis” as justices have failed to disclose gifts and identify conflicts of interest in cases they rule on, according to a report released Saturday by the Democrat-led Senate Judiciary Committee, following a wave of criticism in recent years as reports revealed alleged misconduct.

A report released by the Senate Judiciary Committee says members of the court failed to disclose … [+] “lavish” gifts and recuse themselves from cases with conflicts of interest.

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Key Facts

The report, concluding a 20-month investigation, details alleged ethical misconduct and criticizes Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and former Justice Antonin Scalia.

Thomas has accepted millions of dollars in gifts since he joined the court in 1991, including several trips as a guest of billionaire Harlan Crow in 2019 and two previously unknown trips Crow gifted Thomas and his wife in New York in 2021, including one by yacht, the report claims.

Thomas has received donations in amounts that “have no comparison in modern American history,” the report alleges.

The committee criticized Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas for flying flags outside their home associated with the “Stop The Steal” movement, noting Clarence Thomas had conflicts of interest in cases involving Jan. 6 and the 2020 presidential election and failed to recuse himself.

The report claims Alito failed to comply with federal laws when he didn’t disclose a private plane flight and lodging expenses for a fishing trip to Alaska in 2008, which was paid for by the hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer.

Scalia, who died in 2016, accepted more gifts than any other justice and failed to adequately disclose them, the report claims, including at least 258 trips funded by Republican donors.

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Crucial Quote

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the committee chair, said in a statement the Supreme Court is “mired in an ethical crisis of its own making,” adding, “It’s clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires.”

Chief Critic

Mark Paoletta, an attorney who is a close friend of Thomas, his wife and a former member of President-elect Donald Trump’s first administration, criticized the report as “trying to undermine the Supreme Court” because the judicial body no longer supported opinions that “[implemented] the Democrats’ political agenda.” Paoletta added Thomas and Alito had “COMPLIED” with regulations and rules required of them as justices.

Key Background

The Supreme Court has been criticized for possible ethics violations for years, though the conversation was revitalized last year after ProPublica reported Thomas had accepted several vacations from Crow. A Senate investigation later found another wealthy donor largely financed or purchased outright a $267,000 RV for Thomas, whose wife has been involved with groups that have had business before the court. Other reports have criticized Justice Neil Gorsuch, who allegedly relied on a law firm executive to purchase his Colorado home, and Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who was accused of pushing libraries to buy copies of her book using staffers whose salaries are taxpayer-funded. Democratic lawmakers pushed the Supreme Court to approve an ethics code in 2023, as lower federal courts have similar rules, though the effort was shut down in the Senate. The Supreme Court announced in November 2023 it would adopt an ethics code for its justices, though it noted the rules and principles are, “for the most part,” not new and have the “equivalent of common law ethics rules.”