Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. AP File
Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts. AP File
Washington, United States: Following news stories that raised concerns regarding conservative Justice Clarence Thomas’s interactions with a real estate magnate, Chief Justice John Roberts of the US Supreme Court was requested to appear before a Senate committee on Thursday.
Roberts or another justice of his choosing was requested by the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is chaired by Democrats, in a letter to attend on 2 May and give a public testimony explaining the ethical standards that apply to the nine justices.
“There has been a steady stream of revelations regarding justices falling short of the ethical standards expected,” wrote Senator Richard Durbin, the committee’s head, since the justices’ most recent appearance before Congress in 2011, also on ethics-related matters.
“These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the court’s decade-long failure to address them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence,” Durbin wrote.
Thomas, the longest-serving justice on the court and one of its most conservative voices, came under scrutiny after reports by the independent ProPublica news outlet on him and his wife Ginni taking luxury trips with billionaire Harlan Crow.
Thomas, who had crafted an image of a humble justice who prefers to travel around the US in his camper, went island-hopping in 2019 in Indonesia on Crow’s 162-foot (49 meters) yacht after flying to Asia on Crow’s private jet, ProPublica reported.
Thomas has also vacationed at Crow’s ranch in Texas and “typically spends about a week every summer” at Crow’s private resort in New York’s Adirondack mountains, it said.
Crow, a major donor to the Republican party and conservative groups, also bought properties in Savannah, Georgia from the justice, including the home occupied by Thomas’s mother, ProPublica reported.
But Thomas didn’t report any of the transactions or gifts, according to ProPublica and other media reports.
In a 7 April statement, Thomas defended the relationship with Crow and said he had understood that such “hospitality” from a good friend did not require reporting under official guidelines.
“These guidelines are now being changed,” he noted.
“It is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.”
However, Roberts could face more questions about the activities of both Thomases. When two justices were questioned by the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2011, a major focus was on the Thomases’ relations with Crow and other powerful Republican donors.
A specific focus then was Crow’s donation of $500,000 to fund Ginni Thomas’s new Liberty Central advocacy group.
Roberts could also be asked about Ginni Thomas’s role in former president Donald Trump’s late-2020 campaign claiming, without evidence, that Joe Biden’s election victory over him was fraudulent.
That campaign led directly to the 6 January 2021 assault on Congress by Trump’s supporters.
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