NEW: NATIONAL PRO-DEMOCRACY ORGANIZATIONS PEN LETTER CALLING ON SENATE TO FULLY INVESTIGATE JUSTICE THOMAS’S UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR

May 2nd, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
MAY 2, 2023

PRESS CONTACT:
Sarah Harris, press@standupamerica.com

In letter to Senators Schumer and Durbin, advocates call on the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct full investigation into Justice Thomas

WASHINGTON—Today, several national pro-democracy organizations penned a letter to Leader Schumer and Chairman Durbin calling on the Senate Judiciary Committee to conduct a full investigation into Justice Clarence Thomas’s unethical actions since joining the Supreme Court and demand that he appear before the committee.

“Recent reports of omissions and misrepresentations in Justice Clarence Thomas’ financial disclosures raise serious questions about his ability to “faithfully and impartially” administer justice. As the committee charged with oversight of the federal judiciary, the Senate Judiciary Committee must conduct a full investigation into Thomas’ unethical, and potentially illegal, actions and demand that he appear before the committee,” wrote the national democracy leaders.

“Further delaying, or passing off, the responsibility to investigate Justice Thomas would be an abdication of the Senate’s oversight role. We do not believe that Chief Justice Roberts alone can be relied upon to conduct a thorough investigation of his colleagues’ ethical missteps – one need look no further than his “investigation” of the Dobbs leak to see that the Chief Justice’s investigative track record leaves much to be desired… the Supreme Court is no longer capable of impartially policing its own behavior. It is time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to do its job to ensure that the Supreme Court is held to the highest standards of integrity,” they continued.

Full text of the letter is HERE and below:

Dear Leader Schumer and Chairman Durbin,

We write to you with great concern about the ethical integrity of the Supreme Court. Recent reports of omissions and misrepresentations in Justice Clarence Thomas’s financial disclosures raise serious questions about his ability to “faithfully and impartially” administer justice. As the committee charged with oversight of the federal judiciary, the Senate Judiciary Committee must conduct a full investigation into Thomas’s unethical, and potentially illegal, actions and demand that he appear before the committee.

Earlier this month, ProPublica reported that, for twenty years, Justice Thomas accepted and failed to disclose luxury gifts and travel given to him by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, including multiple trips on private jets and yachts. Thomas also failed to disclose a 2014 real estate deal wherein Crow purchased Thomas’s mother’s home and acted as her landlord for at least six years. Crow retrofitted and refurbished the home and the entire surrounding neighborhood to benefit the Thomas family.

Following these bombshell revelations, the Washington Post revealed that Justice Thomas reported hundreds of thousands of dollars in rental income from a family real estate business that apparently hasn’t existed since 2006. Thomas’s failure to properly account for this income, which began after the family business was dissolved, and a new firm was created, might be chalked up to an error, if not for a pattern of irregularities in his financial disclosures that spans more than two decades.

Justice Thomas’s unethical and illegal conduct violates the Ethics in Government Act and Judicial Conference Gift Regulations, underscoring the urgent need for stronger oversight to ensure that our highest court remains free from corruption and undue influence. While we commend Chairman Durbin for holding a full committee hearing on the issue of Supreme Court ethics reform, and understand the political realities of an evenly split committee due to Senator Feinstein’s absence, one hearing is simply not enough. The American people deserve a full accounting of Justice Thomas’s financial dealings with Crow and repeated failure to comply with disclosure requirements. The Senate Judiciary Committee should conduct a full investigation and demand that Justice Thomas testify under oath.

Further delaying, or passing off, the responsibility to investigate Justice Thomas would be an abdication of the Senate’s oversight role. We do not believe that Chief Justice Roberts alone can be relied upon to conduct a thorough investigation of his colleagues’ ethical missteps – one need look no further than his “investigation” of the Dobbs leak to see that the Chief Justice’s investigative track record leaves much to be desired. Moreover, we believe the Supreme Court is no longer capable of impartially policing its own behavior. It is time for the Senate Judiciary Committee to do its job to ensure that the Supreme Court is held to the highest standards of integrity.

We urge you to act soon, especially given recent reporting indicating that Justice Thomas isn’t alone in his ethical transgressions – according to Politico, Justice Neil Gorsuch reportedly failed to disclose a million-dollar real estate transaction with the head of a law firm that has had multiple cases pending in front of the Court.

As members of a coalition that advocates for structural changes to make our courts more balanced and accountable to the people, we urge you to invite Justice Thomas to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee, and to use your power to demand that he answer for his conduct. The American people deserve to know the truth about these serious allegations, and it is up to you to help restore the public’s trust in our judicial system.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Stand Up America
Indivisible
Take Back the Court Action Fund
American Humanist Association
Freedom From Religion Foundation
People’s Parity Project
End Citizens United // Let America Vote
Demand Justice

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