Republican Senators Blast Push for Supreme Court Ethics Code

Republican senators blasted a drive for a formal Supreme Court code of conduct following recent ethics controversies, accusing Democrats of seeking to weaken the conservative-leaning court.

Republicans including Lindsey Graham of South Carolina also defended Justice Clarence Thomas during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing against criticism of the justice’s failure to disclose luxurious trips funded by a wealthy GOP donor.

“This assault on Justice Thomas is well beyond ethics,” Graham said. “It is about trying to delegitimize a conservative court that was appointed through the traditional process.”

No Republican on the panel expressed any interest in legislation that could impose an ethics code on the high court. The proceeding came just days after all nine justices signed a statement vowing to follow ethical principles but indicating no plan to adopt formal rules on their own.

Since at least some GOP backing is needed to move legislation through the chamber, their reaction points to things staying just as they are.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, said the report about Thomas raises the question, “how low can the court go?” He and other Democrats said it’s clear Congress has a role in imposing enforceable rules on the justices.

“We wouldn’t tolerate this from a city council member or an alderman,” Durbin said. “It falls short of the ethical standards we expect of any public servant in America.”

ProPublica reported last month that Thomas failed to disclose luxury trips over two decades that were paid for by Harlan Crow, a Texas real estate developer who has donated millions to conservative causes. The nonprofit investigative news organization also reported that Crow bought three Georgia properties, including the home where Thomas’s mother resides, from the justice and two relatives.

Chief Justice John Roberts was invited to testify at the hearing but declined to participate.

To contact the reporter on this story:
Laura Litvan in Washington at llitvan@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story:
Megan Scully at mscully32@bloomberg.net

Mike Dorning, Jon Morgan

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