Washington, DC – Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) and Representative Hank Johnson (D-GA) today released a letter alerting the Judicial Conference to the latest bombshell reporting published by ProPublica, which brought to light previously undisclosed billionaire-funded gifts to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Whitehouse and Johnson’s letter asks the Judicial Conference to take these latest revelations into account as the Conference considers referring Justice Thomas to the U.S. Attorney General for potential violations of the Ethics in Government Act under 5 U.S.C. § 13106.
“Recent ProPublica reporting revealed that Justice Thomas has failed to disclose years’ worth of lavish gifts from billionaire benefactors, including free travel on private jets, helicopters, and yachts; lodging at commercial properties; and ‘VIP passes to professional and college sporting events.’ As with other gifts to Justice Thomas unearthed over the past several months, there appears to be no justification for Justice Thomas’s omission of many of these gifts from his annual financial disclosure reports required by the Ethics in Government Act,” wrote Whitehouse and Johnson.
“Coupled with the reports of multiple undisclosed gifts from Harlan Crow to which we previously alerted the Committee, these new revelations reveal an unmistakable pattern of noncompliance by Justice Thomas that supports a finding of reasonable cause to believe that these omissions were willful. As the Committee considers our request to refer Justice Thomas to the U.S. Attorney General pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 13106(b), it must consider the full scope of Justice Thomas’s omissions, including these new revelations,” added the members.
Whitehouse first asked the Judicial Conference to refer Justice Thomas to the Attorney General for investigation in April after reporting from ProPublica exposed Justice Thomas’s propensity for accepting undisclosed gifts from the politically active right-wing billionaire Harlan Crow. Whitehouse has also written to the Judicial Conference to ask for additional details on previous 2011 referrals of potentially unlawful conduct by Justice Thomas, and he has requested information on the opaque operating procedures and membership of the Conference’s committees.
Last month, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed Whitehouse and Johnson’s Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act, legislation that would help restore the American public’s sinking trust in the Supreme Court by fortifying regulations regarding judicial conflicts of interest and recusal. The bill was endorsed by The New York Times editorial board.
The text of the letter is below and a PDF of the letter is available here.
###
August 11, 2023
The Honorable Roslynn R. Mauksopf
Director, Administrative Office of the United States Courts
Secretary, Judicial Conference of the United States
One Columbus Circle, NE
Washington, D.C. 20544
Dear Judge Mauskopf:
We write to bring to the attention of the Committee on Financial Disclosure new accounts of Justice Clarence Thomas’s failure to disclose gifts required to be reported under federal law. Recent ProPublica reporting revealed that Justice Thomas has failed to disclose years’ worth of lavish gifts from billionaire benefactors, including free travel on private jets, helicopters, and yachts; lodging at commercial properties; and “VIP passes to professional and college sporting events.” As with other gifts to Justice Thomas unearthed over the past several months, there appears to be no justification for Justice Thomas’s omission of many of these gifts from his annual financial disclosure reports required by the Ethics in Government Act.
Coupled with the reports of multiple undisclosed gifts from Harlan Crow to which we previously alerted the Committee, these new revelations reveal an unmistakable pattern of noncompliance by Justice Thomas that supports a finding of reasonable cause to believe that these omissions were willful. As the Committee considers our request to refer Justice Thomas to the U.S. Attorney General pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 13106(b), it must consider the full scope of Justice Thomas’s omissions, including these new revelations.
We hope the Committee on Financial Disclosure moves quickly to resolve this matter.
Sincerely,
###
Meaghan McCabe, (202) 224-2921
