Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has called for the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts to adopt a binding code of conduct in response to a ProPublica story that revealed Dallas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow had paid tuition for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ grandnephew. Durbin argued that the revelations demonstrate the need for a binding code of conduct, and his call for action has been echoed by other lawmakers. The Supreme Court currently has a code of conduct, but it is not binding.
Posts tagged as “ProPublica”
ProPublica has reported that wealthy Republican donor Harlan Crow paid for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' grandnephew to attend two private schools in the late 2000s. Crow defended his actions, and the cost of the tuition could have been at least $150,000. This has sparked outcry and calls for ethics reform, as critics argue that the payments could be seen as a form of bribery and could be in violation of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted private school tuition payments from conservative GOP megadonor Harlan Crow for his teenage grandnephew, Mark Martin, according to a new report from ProPublica. The total amount that Crow paid for Martin’s tuition over the years is unclear, but the news of Justice Thomas’ undisclosed gifts has raised questions about whether the payments were appropriate and if they violated the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. This has sparked a debate about the ethics of accepting gifts from those with a direct interest in a case before the court.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) has requested documents from Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire who has donated millions to conservative causes, to investigate whether his gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas violated federal tax law. Chief Justice John Roberts has responded to a request from Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) for Roberts to testify about Thomas’s relationship with Crow by providing a statement of ethics principles and practices to which all current Supreme Court members subscribe. Wyden's letter to Crow requests documents and communications related to the gifts, as well as any records of payments made to Thomas or his wife, to investigate whether the gifts violated federal tax law.
A new report from ProPublica has revealed that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to properly report gifts from a billionaire benefactor, Harlan Crow, involving the sale of three properties in Savannah, Georgia. In response, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) has called on the body overseeing the federal judiciary to refer Justice Thomas to the Department of Justice for investigation. Ethics law experts have noted that Thomas’ failure to report the sale of the properties appears to be a violation of the law, and the consequences of this violation remain unclear.
Harlan Crow, a prominent Republican donor and vocal supporter of President Donald Trump, recently purchased a single-story home and two vacant lots in Savannah, Georgia from Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, his mother, and the family of Thomas' late brother. This marks the first known instance of money flowing from Crow to Thomas, and raises questions about their relationship and potential conflicts of interest, though the Supreme Court has yet to comment on the purchase.
Nine media organizations, including CNN, have filed a lawsuit in federal court against the FBI and US Attorney's Offices at the Justice Department for access to surveillance tapes of the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021. The tapes, which have been provided exclusively to Fox News, contain 44,000 hours of footage and the plaintiffs argue that they should be made available to all media outlets. The lawsuit argues that the tapes are of public interest and the media outlets have diligently sought access to them for the past two years.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has called on Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Justice Clarence Thomas for failing to disclose 20 years' worth of lavish gifts and luxury travel from a GOP megadonor. The Committee, chaired by Dick Durbin, is also planning to hold a hearing on the need to restore public confidence in the Supreme Court. The ProPublica report revealed that Thomas had failed to disclose the gifts and trips as required by law, sparking the latest development in a long-running controversy surrounding the Supreme Court's ethics standards.