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Ray Bogan Political Correspondent
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Democrats to subpoena billionaires involved in Alito, Thomas vacations

Ray Bogan Political Correspondent
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Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee plan to subpoena Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley, to compel them to provide more information about the travel and accommodations they provided to Supreme Court Justices. 

 

Reporting from Pro-Publica revealed Crow provided Justice Clarence Thomas with vacations valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, bought his mother’s house and paid a family member’s tuition. Robin Arkley let Justice Samuel Alito stay at his fishing lodge in Alaska free of charge. Leonord Leo helped organize multiple trips and events that justices attended. 

 

This vote is the next step in the Committee’s ongoing investigation on the ethics of the Supreme Court.  It comes only after Mr. Crow refused to comply with Committee requests, and Mr. Leo and Arkley outright stonewalled the Committee in the exercise of our constitutional authority,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said. 

Senate Democrats are trying to pass  the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act which would the high court to create a stricter code of conduct, increase reporting requirements for when a justice has a connection with someone involved in the case, and require public explanations for recusal decisions. 

 

Republicans have called for a stronger ethics code, but also expressed concern that the Senate should not tell a separate and equal branch of government how to conduct its business. 

 

“This is this is about the confidence of the American people. And that’s why I think the Supreme Court should look at it, all nine of them. This is not just a job that the chief justice can get done on his own,” Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told SAN in July when the AP reported that Justice Sotoymayor’s government paid staff called colleges about buying her book. 

 

There are 11 democrats on the committee and 10 Republicans. So a party line vote would just be enough to approve the subpoenas. Straight from DC, I’m Ray Bogan.