Team, we're learning a whole lot about right-wing billionaire influence at the Supreme Court these days.
ProPublica has released another scathing report – this one revealing how Court-capture operative Leonard Leo hooked up Justice Samuel Alito with right-wing billionaire Paul Singer for a private jet ride to a freebie luxury fishing vacation in Alaska. Singer's hedge fund then came before the Court and was awarded billions.
Leo has worn many hats in his pursuit of creating a captured and obedient Court, and now we can add luxury travel agent to that list.
In a strange attempt to try to get ahead of the scandal, Justice Alito put an op-ed on the polluter-friendly Wall Street Journal editorial page, even before ProPublica could post its story. One argument was that his seat on the private jet (valued at about $100k) would otherwise be vacant. Another was that an airplane is a "facility" – that was a new one.
I think it’s pretty clear: My work to put in place an enforceable code of ethics for the Supreme Court is more crucial than ever. Will you stand with me and contribute to my campaign so I can continue my work in the Senate to ensure SCOTUS starts following a rigorous code of conduct and transparent process for investigating ethics violations?
The corruption at SCOTUS will end when the Court decides to create a binding code of conduct for itself, or when Congress steps in to do so. The Supreme Court, which relies heavily on the trust of the American people, should not be an ethics-free zone.
Chip in today to support my work to introduce real ethics reform at the Supreme Court >>
Thank you,
Sheldon Whitehouse
