WASHINGTON ― Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Sick.) invited Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts to seem earlier than the Senate Judiciary Committee to debate ethics reform within the judiciary after explosive stories that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted undisclosed items and lavish journeys from a GOP megadonor.
“The established order is not tenable,” Durbin, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, wrote in a letter addressed to Roberts on Thursday. “The time has come for a brand new public dialog on methods to revive confidence within the Courtroom’s moral requirements.”
Durbin requested that Roberts or one other justice testify on Might 2, noting that it's not unprecedented for sitting justices to testify earlier than Congress. One such listening to on ethics passed off in 2011.
Thomas has come beneath fireplace for not reporting over 20 years of luxurious journey that he and his spouse, Ginni Thomas, took with Texas actual property mogul Harlan Crow, together with journeys on the donor’s yacht and personal jet.
Thomas additionally did not disclose a 2014 actual property deal to promote properties in Georgia to the billionaire, whom he calls a pal. Thomas’ mom nonetheless lives on one of many properties and doesn’t pay hire. In an implicit acknowledgment of the failure, the justice reportedly is planning on amending his disclosure varieties to mirror the deal.
Democrats have known as for the passage of laws in response to the Thomas revelations that may require Supreme Courtroom justices to stick to the identical code of conduct that binds all different federal judges, together with stricter guidelines on items and journey.
However Republicans dismissed the necessity for such laws, in addition to Durbin’s request on Thursday. They urged Roberts to disregard the invitation.
“I might not advocate the chief justice settle for his invitation as a result of it might be a circus,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) instructed reporters on Capitol Hill.
If Roberts declines the invitation, Democrats may attempt to pressure the justice to seem earlier than the committee. Nevertheless, such a transfer would require a majority vote within the Senate Judiciary Committee. With Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) absent from the Senate for an undetermined time frame whereas she recovers from a bout of the shingles, Democrats would possible lose that vote.
“There’s been no dialogue of subpoenas,” Durbin instructed reporters on Thursday, noting the committee is restricted by Feinstein’s absence.
Post a Comment