Senate Democrats call for investigation of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas

In a letter In a letter sent last week, two Democratic senators called on the U.S. Attorney General to launch a special investigation into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for a range of possible ethics and tax law violations.

Recent reports indicate that Thomas has repeatedly failed to disclose travel, gifts and other benefits from wealthy businessmen in his financial reports, as required by federal law.

A 2023 ProPublica Investigation revealed that Thomas had accepted two luxury trips in 2019 paid for by major Republican donor Harlan Crow that were not listed on disclosure forms. Last week, the Senate Judiciary Committee, which is investigating these possible violations, found that Thomas also took at least three more paid private jet trips from 2017 to 2021 to his statements.

In the letter, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-I.), chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, called on Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate possible violations of ethics rules and tax laws and misrepresentations related to Thomas’ acceptance of favors from wealthy political donors.

“We do not make this request lightly,” the lawmakers wrote. “The evidence gathered to date clearly indicates that Judge Thomas has committed numerous willful violations of federal ethics and false statements laws, and there are significant doubts about whether he and his wealthy benefactors have met their federal tax obligations.

“Despite being given the opportunity to clarify questions about his conduct, Judge Thomas maintained a suspicious silence.”

In addition to investigating the undisclosed gifts, the letter also calls for the appointment of a special counsel to determine whether the judge violated federal ethics and tax laws by failing to repay a significant portion of a more than $267,000 loan he took out to purchase a luxury car and by failing to report the forgiven debt as income on his ethics filings.

This information, which is contained in a Investigation von Wyden’s committee raised the question of whether the judge had properly reported the forgiven loan amount on his tax returns.

Thomas’ attorney Elliot S. Berke had previously stated that the judge had attempted to comply with the then-current disclosure requirements for gifts and travel.

“Judge Thomas has always strived for full transparency and compliance with the law, including with regard to the question of which personal trips must be reported,” Berke said in a opinion and added that all errors were “completely unintentional”.

Accordingly The Washington PostGarland has appointed only three special counsels during his term: to oversee investigations into former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden and Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

HuffPost asked the Justice Department for comment on whether Garland is considering appointing a special counsel, but did not receive an immediate response.

Thomas has accepted more than $4 million in gifts over the past three decades, but he is not the only one to accept such favors. His fellow judges have accepted gifts totaling $248,000, according to a report by the justice reform group. Repair the dish.