A complaint by two congressional Democrats regarding possible ethics violations by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have been forwarded to a federal judicial panel that enforces financial disclosure rules.
(Bloomberg) — A complaint by two congressional Democrats regarding possible ethics violations by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have been forwarded to a federal judicial panel that enforces financial disclosure rules.
US District Court Judge Roslynn Mauskopf told Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and Representative Hank Johnson of Georgia of the referral in letters on Tuesday.
Whitehouse and Johnson had asked the Judicial Conference of the United States to look into Thomas’s decision not to report luxury trips and gifts from Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and longtime Republican donor.
“I have forwarded your letter to the Judicial Conference Committee on Financial Disclosure, which is responsible for implementing the disclosure provisions of the Ethics in Government Act and addressing allegations of errors or omissions in the filing of financial disclosure reports,” Mauskopf said in her letter to Johnson.
Mauskopf’s letters to Whitehouse and Johnson didn’t specify what action the committee might take, if any, in response to receiving the complaints. Committees typically make recommendations to the Judicial Conference, which serves as the federal judiciary’s policymaking body.
She added that she was acting in her capacity as secretary of the Judicial Conference. Chief Justice John Roberts is the conference’s presiding officer.
Her response was reported earlier by the Washington Post.
Whitehouse and Johnson earlier led a group of 22 lawmakers who sent a letter to Roberts calling for an investigation into Thomas’s travel. All are Democrats except for Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, an independent who caucuses with the party.
The questions about the justice arose from articles by ProPublica. The news organization reported last week that Thomas and his wife took luxurious and unreported trips from Crow over nearly two decades, and that Thomas and relatives sold three Georgia properties to Crow in 2014 that include his mother’s home.
Thomas defended the decision not to disclose the travel, saying in a rare public statement that he was advised early in his Supreme Court tenure that he didn’t have to report the trips. Crow has said that Thomas and his wife, Virginia Thomas, are “dear friends” who never asked for the hospitality they received.
Despite the criticism of Thomas by Democrats, deep partisan divisions in Congress make it highly unlikely that a code of ethics will emerge through legislation. Lawmakers in both parties have long upheld a centuries-old tradition of letting the high court navigate its ethics rules.
Roberts has long resisted demands for a code of conduct for the justices. It’s also not clear that he even has authority to impose such rules on his colleagues.
–With assistance from Zoe Tillman.
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