A judicial organization that sets national policy for federal courts has rejected a request from two Democratic lawmakers to refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the Justice Department over free travel and gifts from wealthy donors that were largely omitted from his financial disclosure forms.
The group, the Judicial Conference, sent identical letters Thursday to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-I.M., who chairs the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Federal Courts, and Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., the ranking member on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Federal Courts. The courts asked her in 2023 to refer Thomas to the Attorney General for investigation after a ProPublica reports on Free travel and gifts for Thomas from billionaire Harlan Crowe and others.
Judicial Conference Secretary Robert J. Conrad Jr. said Thomas filed amended financial disclosures that “address many of the issues identified in your letter” and argued that there is legal uncertainty about whether the Judicial Conference has the authority to refer complaints about Supreme Court justices.
“Because the Judicial Conference does not supervise the Supreme Court and because any effort to give the Conference such authority would raise serious constitutional questions, one would expect Congress to at least clearly state any such directive. But no such explicit directive appears in this item,” Conrad said.
A similar request on Thursday from Citizens for Renewed America was rejected by Chairman Ross Vaught, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the Office of Management and Budget, which I filed an ethics complaint v. Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson over allegations that she failed to disclose details about income generated from her husband’s medical malpractice consultations.
Conrad said both judges amended their financial disclosures and that they agreed to follow guidance issued to other federal judges.
Whitehouse criticized Conrad’s response, saying in a statement that it “ultimately does not address the one real question that the Judicial Conference should have been focusing on throughout the two years it spent on this matter: Is there reasonable cause to believe that Judge Thomas willfully violated the disclosure law?”
“The judiciary appears to be evading its legal duty to hold a Supreme Court justice accountable for ethical violations,” Whitehouse added.
Spokespeople for Johnson and Citizens for Renewing America, a conservative social welfare group, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday night.
Elliot S. Burke, Thomas’ attorney, said his client “fully complied with the new disclosure requirements” after guidance issued in 2023 specified that a reporting exemption for personal gifts of hospitality did not apply to gifts of conveyance and in commercial real estate.
White House and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, made a direct appeal to the Justice Department in July to conduct a criminal investigation into whether Thomas violated federal ethics and tax laws. No such investigations have been announced.
The Supreme Court officially adopted a new code of ethics in 2023, but more than a year later, questions remain about its application.