Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee have asked GOP megadonor Harlan Crow to turn over information about the gifts and financial benefits he has provided Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in an attempt to learn more about their relationship.
In a letter this week, committee Democrats led by Chairman Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois asked Mr. Crow and the entities that own his Topridge Camp, private yacht and private jet to detail how many visits Justice Thomas or any other justice had to the properties.
They also asked for a list of any financial gifts or benefits that were given to a justice that exceeds $415.
“Many of these gifts, transactions, and items of value had not been previously disclosed by Justice Thomas,” the letter read.
The senators asked for answers by May 22 to help the committee craft legislation geared at formalizing a code of ethics for high court justices.
The letter comes after a series of news articles about Justice Thomas and his friendship with Mr. Crow, a billionaire real estate developer.
ProPublica reported last week that Mr. Crow paid private school tuition at Hidden Lake Academy and Randolph-Macon Academy for Justice Thomas’ great-nephew, whom the justice took in to raise at the age of 6.
The tuition total could have cost more than $150,000, according to ProPublica. Justice Thomas did not disclose the payments in his financial disclosure forms, and the news outlet suggested that runs afoul of ethical standards required of a federal judge.
Scrutiny of the justice has renewed over the past month. ProPublica reported in April that Justice Thomas did not disclose that he had taken multiple luxury vacations with Mr. Crow or that Mr. Crow had purchased his mother’s home even though she continued to reside there.
The Washington Post followed with an April 16 article examining what appeared to be a typo on the justice’s financial disclosure related to family real estate holdings in which he reported rental income to Ginger Ltd. Partnership instead of Ginger Holdings LLC.
The New York Times followed with a piece critical of Justice Thomas and other Republican appointees collecting generous salaries to teach courses at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia School of Law.
Justice Thomas has defended his friendship with Mr. Crow and said he consulted with colleagues about disclosure requirements and didn’t skirt any rules.
Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats held a hearing last week on ethics concerns for the justices. They invited Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to testify, but he declined.
The high court currently doesn’t have a mandatory code of ethics, even though lower court judges are expected to avoid impropriety or do business with anyone who may come before the bench.
Chief Justice Roberts has said the high court has generally followed the Judicial Conferences’ Code of Ethics that are binding on lower courts — but not the Supreme Court — since 1991.
He said all justices must file disclosures that are reviewed by the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure and follow what lower courts do with recusals. But he noted that the system is flexible, given the composition of the high court.
He also said the justices’ security has faced increased threats. He said they sometimes do not disclose justices’ travel arrangements for security reasons.
During last week’s hearing, Senate Republicans dismissed the allegations of ethics concerns and said it’s a political attempt by Democrats to delegitimize the Supreme Court.
“You can write all the articles you want to write. You can take all the shots at the justices you want to take,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican. “This is an unseemly effort by the Democratic left to destroy the legitimacy of the Roberts court. It has put people at risk.”
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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