Senate Democrats condemn ethical lapses by Thomas, Supreme Court justices

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Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) heads to the Senate Chamber for a vote on Thursday, December 12, 2024.
By Zach Schonfeld

Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee condemned the Supreme Court for an “ethical crisis of its own making” in a new report released Saturday. 

The report follows Democrats’ 20-month investigation into the court’s ethics, spurred by ProPublica reports last year detailing how Justice Clarence Thomas accepted various luxury gifts and trips from a billionaire while on the court. 

In particular, the majority staff report critiques Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito and the late Justice Antonin Scalia, all prominent conservative justices, claiming they violated their legal obligations by not disclosing gifts or failing to recuse from certain cases.

“Any claim that the Court can adequately police itself is belied by the fact that the Court has not taken meaningful action to address ethical misconduct, and no justice has faced consequences for unethical behavior—despite dozens of credible allegations of misconduct by multiple justices over decades,” the report states.  

“An enforceable code of conduct for the Supreme Court is essential in light of the Court’s failure to police itself,” it continued. 

Democrats have pushed the Supreme Court to strengthen its ethics standards for years, but revelations of Thomas’s trips and other ethics controversies sparked renewed interest as public trust in the court plummeted.

 “The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” the report states, critiquing the judiciary’s policymaking body for not taking further corrective action. 

Thomas has denied wrongdoing and said he was not previously obligated to disclose the trips, provided by billionaire Harlan Crow, under a personal hospitality exception that has since been clarified.

“On a personal note, Kathy and I are saddened that our dear friends, Clarence and Ginni Thomas, have been subjected to these baseless smears for the past two year,” Harlan Crow said in a statement. “They are good and honorable people, and no one should be treated this way.”

In response to the pressure, the justices ultimately adopted a statement of ethical principles last November. Democrats have criticized it for including no binding enforcement mechanism, as opposed to the code in place for other federal judges. 

The new report reups Democrats’ calls to pass legislation that would create an enforceable ethics code. Republicans blocked the bill, expressing confidence in the justices to police their own ethics and view Democrats’ investigation as a partisan attempt to tear down the conservative-majority court. 

Thomas and the other justices did not return a request for comment sent to a court spokesperson.

Mark Paoletta, a close friend of Thomas whom President-elect Trump has selected for a senior role in the Office of Management and Budget, called the report “pathetic” and criticized Democrats for releasing it the Saturday before Christmas. 

“When they come back, they will thankfully be in the minority. Good riddance,” Paoletta wrote on X. 

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