Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin said Wednesday evening that he plans to hold votes on subpoenas for two major conservative players when the panel meets Thursday morning, as part of its probe into ongoing ethics controversies at the Supreme Court.
The expected vote to subpoena Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the board of the influential Federalist Society, and Republican donor Harlan Crow – who have close ties to Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas – comes after committee Democrats backed down from a similar vote earlier this month in response to GOP threats to force votes on scores of politically fraught amendments.
Democrats have argued that subpoenas are necessary to better understand whether specific individuals and groups have used undisclosed gifts to gain access to the justices. But Republicans have cast the effort as politically motivated.
Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told CNN Wednesday he’s ready for Republicans to again offer up a large batch of amendments and that he’s prepared for the process to take several hours.
The move represents a key point in Senate Democrats’ investigation, which emerged after a series of reports about justices’ failures to report luxury gifts and trips on financial disclosures raised questions about transparency and ethics on the high court.
Alito and Thomas have denied wrongdoing, and the Supreme Court has attempted to bolster the public’s confidence in the institution, announcing a new code of ethics earlier this month. The new code, however, has left many questions unanswered, including how any violations will be enforced.
Leo has thus far refused to cooperate with the inquiry, which sought information from him following a ProPublica report about a 2008 fishing trip attended by Alito. Per the outlet, the justice traveled on a private jet that was organized in part by Leo,…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply