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With Sen. Dianne Feinstein's return to the Senate this week after an extended absence, Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin is in a position to subpoena witnesses about the mounting Supreme Court bribery and corruption scandals.
This is a huge development. Without subpoena power, Senate oversight has been limited to polite requests which Chief Justice John Roberts and conservative billionaire Harlan Crow have quickly rebuffed.
It’s time to go beyond polite requests. With Feinstein being the last vote needed, subpoenas must be issued. Every day Clarence Thomas remains on the Court, it loses legitimacy. It’s time for Sen. Durbin to turn up the heat.
Because Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin couldn’t issue subpoenas without Feinstein’s vote, the first (and so far only announced) hearing had no big witnesses and focused largely on process.
But the corruption and bribery allegations this Supreme Court has spawned are shocking:
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted millions of dollars of luxury travel and accommodations from conservative billionaire Harlan Crow. Crow also bought Thomas’ mother's house and paid private school tuition for Clarence Thomas' grandnephew. None of it was reported on Thomas' financial disclosure forms. His wife, Ginni Thomas, was secretly paid tens of thousands of dollars by a political-advocacy group with business before the Court.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and his business partners sold a multi-million dollar property to a rich lawyer whose firm frequently has cases before the Supreme Court, just 9 days after he was sworn in -- and Gorsuch appears to have failed to properly report it.
Conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts' wife was paid over $10 million in commissions from elite law firms. At least one of those firms argued a case before Chief Justice Roberts after paying his wife hundreds of thousands of dollars. Roberts did not recuse himself -- and voted in favor of that law firm’s client.
Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito was the subject of a long-term influence campaign orchestrated by a right-wing activist and a network of wealthy donors that allegedly resulted in, among other things, one of the donors being told in advance about an upcoming Supreme Court decision.
Supreme Court Justices do not live by the same ethics rules as other federal judges. Meaning, if a judge gets elevated to the highest court in the land, the ethical standards they’re held to go down.
We are sharing support for this position with the media, the White House, and key allies in Congress and letting them know that the public is outraged and believes that every day Clarence Thomas is on the Court, it loses legitimacy.
Thanks for being a bold progressive.
-- The PCCC Team (@BoldProgressive)
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