The reputations of the Supreme Court and Chief Justice John Roberts are “at stake” if they do not move to adopt a binding code of conduct after new revelations about payments made by billionaire Harlan Crow to support Justice Clarence Thomas’ family, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said on Thursday.
A ProPublica report revealed that Crow, a conservative billionaire involved in efforts to swing the Supreme Court to the right, paid the private school tuition of Thomas’ grandnephew, whom Thomas raised as a son after the boy’s father went to prison on drug charges. Thomas did not report the support Crow provided on his financial disclosures, despite reporting a contribution from a different donor at one point.
Crow has now reportedly paid for Thomas’ grandnephew’s school, his wife’s salary, his mother’s home, frequent private jet travel and near-annual luxury vacations, in addition to other assorted gifts.
“I hope that Chief Justice Roberts reads this story this morning and understands something has to be done,” Durbin told CNN’s Manu Raju. “The reputation of the Supreme Court is at stake here. … His reputation as a leader of this court is really an issue as well.”
“When does the stench get bad enough that SCOTUS stops the cover-up and ends the mischief?” Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) tweeted. “This is on the Chief Justice to solve, plain and simple. Mom’s rent, family tuition, vacations and gifts — and secret? Any other government employee would be fired.”
Publicly pressuring Roberts to act appears to be the only course of action for Democrats at the moment. Only one out of 49 Senate Republicans supports any kind of legislation to require the court to adopt a binding code of conduct and House Republicans are similarly opposed.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee can’t even report out ethics reform legislation, or subpoena Thomas or Roberts, because of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s absence. The California Democrat, the oldest member of the Senate, has not been at work since February as she recovers from a case of shingles.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) is so far the only member of the Senate Judiciary Committee to call for subpoenaing Thomas and for the Department of Justice to launch a probe into Thomas’ alleged violation of ethics and disclosure laws. It’s not clear whether other members of the committee even want to take such an aggressive approach as the court flaunts its ability to sidestep ethics laws.
But Durbin suggested that the committee will continue to push for ethics legislation.
“Congress, and our Committee, has the authority to act,” Durbin said in a statement on Thursday. “And that’s what the Judiciary Committee will continue to pursue.”
Durbin previously asked Roberts to appear before the committee or appoint another justice to appear to answer questions about the court’s refusal to adopt a binding code of conduct. Roberts refused, citing separation of powers concerns.