A group of congressional Democrats have asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate the trips that Justice Clarence Thomas has taken with Republican donations.
“We believe that it is your duty as Chief Justice ‘to safeguard public faith in the judiciary,’ and that fulfilling that duty requires swift, thorough, independent and transparent investigation into these allegations,” a letter written to Roberts reads.
Eight senators and eight representatives sent Roberts the letter last week, urging him to launch an investigation into any “potentially unlawful” conduct that Thomas might have committed.
From The Hill:
ProPublica first reported on Thursday on the trips that Thomas has received over the years from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow, going on cruises on Crow’s yacht, flying on his private jet and engaging with Crow’s “powerful” friends at his private resort. Crow is a Dallas-based real estate developer. The outlet reported that some of these gifts are worth more than $500,000, but Thomas has not disclosed any of them during the years he received them. Thomas said in response to the report that he was “advised” that he did not need to disclose any of the trips. “Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable,” he said.
