Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse is enraged about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas‘s alleged ethical breaches — and the Senator delivers (with double-exclamation-point excitement) the news that Thomas’s financial ties to billionaire Harlan Crow and the potential ethics violations they represent will “be sent for action to the Financial Disclosure Committee of the Judicial Conference!!”
News: Unreported gifts to Clarence Thomas of private jet and yacht trips from Harlan Crow cause his disclosure failure to be sent for action to the Financial Disclosure Committee of the Judicial Conference!!
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 26, 2023
Whitehouse has been tweet-bombing Thomas and the SCOTUS, while also questioning how relevant the Judicial Conference referral may be, since the same body considered alleged ethics breaches by Thomas in 2011, and gave the Justice — and lowercase justice, too, according to Whitehouse — a pass.
And: Did the Judicial Conference ever review Thomas’s 2011 disclosure failures, and make any findings? Was any referral made to the AG, as required by law if there’s “reasonable cause” to believe a disclosure violation may have been “willful.”
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 26, 2023
Is there any record of any of this?
[NOTE: The Judicial Conference did review Justice Clarence Thomas’s disclosure failures in 2011 and made findings. In 2011, it was reported that Justice Thomas had failed to disclose his wife’s income on financial disclosure forms for several years. The Judicial Conference, which is the national policy-making body for the federal courts, conducted an investigation into the matter and concluded that Justice Thomas had “inadvertently” failed to disclose his wife’s income. Based on these findings, the Conference did not recommend any disciplinary action against Justice Thomas.]
Whitehouse continues to drop a series of truth bombs on Thomas and the SCOTUS in general, calling “the facts” about Justice Thomas “indefensible” and warning that his backers will “throw whatever they can at the wall to try & distract.”
As far-right political operatives close to SCOTUS realize the facts about Justice Thomas are indefensible, they’ll throw whatever they can at the wall to try & distract. But the truth is the highest court has the lowest ethics standards – & the justices have let Americans down.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 21, 2023
The liberties that justices have taken are egregious, as they take advantage of there being no ref to read the rules to suit their convenience.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 26, 2023
BTW the rule you should not judge your own case is so old it’s in Latin: nemo judex in sua causa.
At least one impatient citizen asks if Whitehouse can do more than tweet about the Thomas breach, suggesting legal action: “Words words words words words – rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric. Are you going to tweet or do something a/b it? Don’t ask for outrage if you are unwilling to do anything but talk. You could send a subpoena.”
Words words words words words – rhetoric rhetoric rhetoric. Are you going to tweet or do something a/b it? Don’t ask for outrage if you are unwilling to do anything but talk. You could send a subpoena.
— The Anticorruption Organization (TAO) (@OrganizationTao) April 26, 2023
While Thomas is at the center of the ethics storm, Whitehouse implies the entire SCOTUS is riddled with ethical compromise, saying “the truth is the highest court has the lowest ethics standards.”
As far-right political operatives close to SCOTUS realize the facts about Justice Thomas are indefensible, they’ll throw whatever they can at the wall to try & distract. But the truth is the highest court has the lowest ethics standards – & the justices have let Americans down.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 21, 2023
Chief Justice John Roberts comes in for particular scrutiny as he refuses testimony on the subject of SCOTUS ethics.
The gaping hole in today’s response from Roberts to the Senate Judiciary Committee is that it overlooks the complete failure of process regarding ethics questions involving the justices.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 26, 2023
When there’s no ref, there’s no rule, as a practical matter.
Whitehouse has been concerned about judicial ethics since before the Thomas revelations. In 2022 Whitehouse and Georgia Congressman Hank Johnson introduced the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency (SCERT) Act.
The Supreme Court has squandered the benefit of the doubt. If they won’t rein in their ongoing ethics crisis, we will.
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) April 26, 2023
My SCERT Act is the most comprehensive bill to get it done, and @NYTimes agrees.https://t.co/tAkz2yx0xH
The pair reintroduced the SCERT Act in 2023 and now Whitehouse, after the Thomas scourge, is again pushing for the law that “will require justices of the Supreme Court to adopt and follow a code of ethics, creates an accountability mechanism for these ethics by establishing advisory review by appellate court judges, places transparency standards on gifts and travel, codifies recusal standards, and requires the court to disclose lobbying and dark money interests before it.”
