WASHINGTON — Key Senate Democrats are considering a hearing about Supreme Court ethics in the wake of revelations that Justice Clarence Thomas received previously undisclosed gifts and luxury travel from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the chair of the Judiciary Committee, said the “20 years of gift travel on yachts and chartered planes was outrageous.” He added that the failure to disclose Crow’s real estate deals and his reported purchase of Thomas’ mother’s home was “beyond anything I could imagine at the Supreme Court level.”
It’s not clear when the hearing will take place or what the scope would be. Durbin said he has “a number of things in mind” he is discussing with committee members, but he was pessimistic about getting Thomas to testify.
“Of course, I would like to, but I don’t think it’s going to happen,” he said when he was asked whether he'd like to hear from Thomas directly. “We’re going to discuss the agenda and the program.”
A Democratic aide noted that issuing a subpoena would require a majority vote by the committee, which the party doesn’t have with Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., out indefinitely on medical leave. “So that option is out of the question,” the aide said.
Durbin said Democrats are putting the onus on Chief Justice John Roberts to “accept the responsibility of the court” to investigate Thomas’ conduct and make “a change in approach on ethics.”
“Every other federal judge in America except for nine in the Supreme Court is bound by an ethical standard, which is important,” he said, adding that members of Congress are bound by much higher ethical standards than justices are.