Two Democratic senators, Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden, have requested a criminal probe into Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for potential ethics violations, false statement violations, and tax law violations. They have written to Attorney General Merrick Garland, asking him to appoint a special counsel to investigate.
The senators believe that Thomas has failed to provide sufficient explanations about his handling of the situation, leading them to request a special counsel to investigate the $267,000 loan he used to buy a luxury motor coach in 1999.
The Senate Finance Committee found that Anthony Welters, a businessman and friend of Thomas’s, had a large chunk of his debt forgiven in 2008. As a result, it is unclear if Thomas complied with tax reporting requirements. Thomas’s lawyer, Elliot S. Berke, has stated that Thomas made an effort to adhere to the requirements of financial disclosures of gifts and travel “at the time.”
The senators want to probe Thomas’s hidden spending on private jet flights, boat charters, home improvements, tuition, premium sports tickets, housing, and more. They also want the special counsel to investigate the $25,000 in consulting fees sent to Thomas’s wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas.
Criticism from ethics scholars suggested that Thomas could have been required to step aside from some cases.
Whitehouse and Wyden say the law requires government officials to report any financial advantages, loans, or gifts they receive. They are also interested in whether Leo’s contribution to Ginni Thomas was part of a coordinated gift scheme or required extra disclosures by the justice, as well as whether Thomas’s benefactors paid gift taxes.
Officials from the U.S. Judge Conference have been requested to clarify their approach to dealing with the Thomas revelations, but they are still waiting for a response. Thomas documented three trips paid for by Crow from 2017 to 2021, and this month, the justice updated his 2019 financial declarations to include Crow’s payment for housing and other costs incurred during his excursions to Bali and a California club.
Jeremy Fogel, who served as a former federal judge and current head of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, brings his extensive legal knowledge to the discussion. He stated that while the DOJ has the legal authority to assign an investigator to Thomas’s case, it’s unlikely to do so.
According to Fogel, it would be perceived as political vengeance for the justices’ unpopular verdicts.
After years of Trump sounding the drumbeat that he’s been the target of political witchhunts, going after Thomas at this time would reek of it.
Thomas has been a Supreme Court judge since 1991.