A report from Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee has detailed new allegations about the “lavish gifts” justices on the United States Supreme Court received from donors.The 93-page report, released on Saturday, culminates a nearly 20-month investigation led by outgoing Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin.
It builds on previous reporting from the news outlet ProPublica that raised questions about potential conflicts of interest on the highest court in the land.
The report, however, claims to have uncovered never-before-reported trips allegedly taken by Justice Clarence Thomas at the expense of real estate developer Harlan Crow, a prominent supporter of the Republican Party.
While other justices are also named in the report, it singles out Thomas for particular censure.
“The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” the report reads.
Justice Thomas has yet to respond publicly to the report’s allegations. Advertisement
Prominent Senate Democrats like Durbin have long pushed for the Supreme Court to institute a watertight code of ethics to prevent conflicts of interest and ensure compliance with disclosure mandates.
In their report, the Democrats slammed the Supreme Court’s chief justice, conservative John Roberts, for not taking more forceful steps to crack down on the apparent ethical lapses.
“Chief Justice Roberts’s continued unwillingness to implement the only viable solution to the Court’s ethical crisis — an enforceable code of conduct — requires Congress to act to restore the public’s confidence in the highest court in the land,” the report said.
It accused the court of failing to deal with “an ethical crisis of its own making”.
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