A report released Saturday by Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee after a 20-month investigation declares the Supreme Court "has mired itself in an ethical crisis of its own making." The report lists a series of ethical lapses and failures and estimates the value of gifts accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas in the millions of dollars. "The number, value, and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history," the report says, per the Washington Post. Those gifts sometimes came from people with issues before the court, it adds.
Congress needs to enact an enforceable ethics code that would provide for an independent panel to review complaints, the report says. The committee approved such a bill this year along party lines, per NBC News, but Republicans prevented a Senate vote. "It's clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires," Chairman Dick Durbin said in a statement. Republicans on the committee did not take part in the investigation.
The report lists previously documented gifts as well as free travel by Thomas that hadn't been disclosed, including a yacht trip to New York City sponsored by Harlan Crow, a Texas billionaire and Thomas benefactor. Thomas did not answer investigators' inquiries but previously maintained he wasn't obligated to report many gifts because they were covered by a "personal hospitality" exemption in force at the time. As polls have shown its public popularity falling, the court approved an ethics code a year ago, per the Post, that has no enforcement mechanism. (More US Supreme Court stories.)
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