Supreme Court justices hid billionaire gifts for decades, ethics investigation finds

Senate Democrats released a report they say shows that the Supreme Court has had an ethics problem for decades.

The Senate Judiciary Committee said its 20-month investigation uncovered that the late Justice Antonin Scalia accepted lavish gifts from billionaires and people with business before the court, which included 258 trips. The lawmakers claim that dozens of those were never disclosed, in violation of federal law. Democrats say the nondisclosures run afoul of the Ethics in Government Act of 1978, which requires financial reporting for federal officials including the justices.

The report, released Saturday, also revealed criticisms of Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito Jr. for gifts they received and for not recusing themselves from certain matters before the court, much of which has already been widely reported.

“Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we know the extent to which the Supreme Court is mired in an ethical crisis of its own making. Whether failing to disclose lavish gifts or failing to recuse from cases with apparent conflicts of interest, it’s clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires,” said Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Richard Durbin.

“The highest court in the land can’t have the lowest ethical standards. So long as Chief Justice Roberts and the Judicial Conference refuse to act, we must push for a legislative solution to this crisis to restore trust in the highest court,” the Illinois Democrat said.

He’s been pushing for lawmakers to pass the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, which would require the Supreme Court to have an enforceable code of ethics that has a mechanism for probing alleged violations. It advanced from the committee last July.

The legislation is likely to go nowhere, given Congress’ incoming Republican majority in January.

The report discusses how Justice Thomas took trips with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow that were not disclosed. ProPublica previously reported about trips and gifts between Mr. Crow and Justice Thomas. Both have said they’re friends and do not discuss matters before the court.

The report also says Justice Thomas did not recuse himself from cases dealing with the “Stop the Steal” movement when his wife, Virginia Thomas, was an advocate for it and attended the Jan. 6, 2021, rally at the Ellipse near the White House. She left before the riot broke out at the U.S. Capitol.

The lawmakers also say Justice Alito similarly took an undisclosed fishing trip with a billionaire and did not recuse himself from cases dealing with the Jan. 6 riot and a challenge to the 2020 election, despite flying two flags — an upside-down American flag and an Appeal to Heaven flag — at his homes. The two flags were reportedly symbols sympathetic to the “Stop the Steal” movement.

Both alleged ethics violations have been widely reported.

As a result of the Democrats’ probe, the report suggests that the Judicial Conference and Congress make efforts to adopt an enforceable ethics guideline and investigative mechanism to hold the justices to account.

Mark Paoletta, a GOP lawyer and ally of Justice Thomas, dismissed the report as partisan on X.

“Your pathetic staff report is dishonest [and] filled [with] false info. It’s a pile of dung [and] that’s why you released it the day after Congress left. Thomas was not required to disclose these trips. And you’re hypocrites. Enjoy the minority, you earned it in every way,” Mr. Paoletta posted in response to Mr. Durbin.

A spokesperson for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the report. The high court did adopt its own ethics code last year, but critics say the plan lacks an enforceable body and allows the justices to police themselves.

Supreme Court justices and other federal judges now must disclose gifts and travel funded by a third party, under ethics requirements that Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. and circuit court judges quietly adopted in March following revelations of Justice Thomas’ travel.