The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to issue subpoenas to investigate trips Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas went on that were paid for by a well-known Dallas real estate developer.
The Republican members of the committee strongly objected to the move. However, committee chair Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) pushed for a vote on authorizing the subpoenas anyway. Republicans’ attempts to stop the vote, even temporarily, came to no avail. All the Republican committee members except ranking member Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) walked out in protest.
Subpoenas will be issued to Dallas real estate mogul Harlan Crow and Leonard Leo, chairman of the board of directors of the Federalist Society. Both individuals have been entangled in the Democrat-led ethics examination of some members of the Supreme Court since a ProPublica exposé in April claimed Justice Thomas was the beneficiary of luxury trips and other gifts paid for by Crow.
The subsequent media attention prompted calls by left-wing lawmakers and commentators for an ethics investigation into Thomas, who has been a particular lightning rod for left-wing criticism since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
According to CBS News, Graham said, “This is about an ongoing effort to destroy this court. To destroy Clarence Thomas’ reputation. To pack the court. To get your way. To make sure the Supreme Court that exists today can’t function.”
The Judiciary Committee had previously requested information from Leo and Crow. However, Crow objected on the grounds that the committee purportedly had no legitimate reason to make such demands of private citizens. In a statement after the vote, Crow said he has been cooperative with the committee.
“Committee Democrats have made intrusive demands of a private citizen that far exceed any reasonable standard and to this date have not explained why this request is necessary to craft legislation, particularly now that the Committee has completed its work on ethics legislation. Still, Mr. Crow maintains his readiness to discuss the matter further with the Committee,” said a statement released by Crow’s office, per CBS News.
The subpoenas come at a time when some lawmakers and citizens have been expressing concerns over the potential weaponization of certain facets of the federal government, primarily the FBI and Department of Justice, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Republicans claimed that nothing Thomas is being accused of is limited as Supreme Court justices have been recipients of such gifts for years.
“There is no ‘there’ there because the justices have received gifts of hospitality from friends forever,” Roger Severino, vice president of domestic policy at The Heritage Foundation, told Fox News when the ProPublica story first broke. “And many of the justices have taken far more trips than Justice Thomas on somebody else’s dime, including Justice Breyer, who we know has taken at least 233 trips when he was on the bench.”
Before the subpoena authorization vote, Durbin lashed out at Republicans for allegedly trying to obstruct the ethics probe.
“Their attempts to thwart the legitimate oversight efforts of Congress should concern all of us,” Durbin said, according to CBS News. “As I’ve said before, I do not seek this authorization lightly, and I do not ask for it often. But to protect Congress’ authority and advance the committee’s efforts to implement an enforceable code of conduct for the Supreme Court, it is necessary to seek authorization to pursue compulsory process with respect to Mr. Leo and Mr. Crow.”
Earlier this month, the high court announced it had adopted a formal code of conduct for justices, as reported by The Dallas Express. However, Democratic lawmakers remain unsatisfied with the ethics code, complaining it lacked an enforcement mechanism.
