Yep:
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, called on the body overseeing the federal judiciary to refer Justice Clarence Thomas to the Department of Justice for investigation into his failure to properly report gifts from a billionaire benefactor.
“It would be best for the Chief Justice to commence a proper investigation, but after a week of silence from the Court and this latest disturbing reporting, I’m urging the Judicial Conference to step in and refer Justice Thomas to the Attorney General for investigation,” Whitehouse said in a statement released Thursday night.
Whitehouse, joined by other Democrats, including Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), previously called on Chief Justice John Roberts to investigate Thomas’ failure to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow. Those gifts, uncovered by ProPublica, included multiple expensive luxury vacations on Crow’s superyacht for Thomas and his wife, Ginni Thomas, and regular use of Crow’s private jet. Thomas did not disclose these gifts in his mandated annual personal financial reports.
In addition to the luxury vacations and private jet use, Crow purchased Thomas’ ancestral home in Georgia where his mother still resides from him for an inflated price, ProPublica reported on Thursday. While Thomas had listed his interest in the home on his financial reports in the past, he did not disclose the sale to Crow as required by law.
Supreme Court justices are required to disclose certain gifts and sales under federal ethics laws. In the past, some gifts of lodging and hospitality provided by friends were exempt from disclosure. Thomas claims that he believed that he was not required to disclose the travel, lodging and food provided by Crow.
In March, the Judicial Conference, the body that sets rules for the federal judiciary, updated its disclosure guidelines to clarify that justices must report gifts of lodging and hospitality not provided at a personal residence owned directly by the gift-giving individual and private travel to such locations.
The financial disclosure law that Thomas is alleged to have violated states that justices must “knowingly and willfully” fail to report gifts that should have been disclosed. Such a violation may result in fines up to $50,000, or, if the violator falsifies a report, not more than one year in prison.
The Judicial Conference is the body designated by ethics law to refer members of the judiciary to the Attorney General for investigation.
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