Republican senators are pushing back against Democratic efforts to subpoena billionaire Harlan Crowe and conservative activist Leonard Leo over their ties to luxury travel and gifts received by Supreme Court justices. .
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted to subpoena the conservative on Thursday after considering multiple nominees for attorney general. Senate President Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in his opening remarks that subpoenas are “an important part of the Supreme Court’s legislative efforts to establish an effective code of conduct.”
Ranking Member Sen. Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) responded, “I don’t believe anything you just said.” “Let’s be real and honest: This is garbage.”
For years, Democrats have been investigating Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito for failing to disclose lavish vacations paid for by conservatives, including to Republican megadonor Crowe and Federal Society Vice Chairman Leo Leo. asked for cross-examination. , their friends.
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Left: Harlan Crowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Crowe Holdings LLC, poses for a photo at the Old Parkland real estate office in Dallas, Texas, USA, Friday, October 2, 2015. (Chris Goodney/Bloomberg via Getty Images ). Right: Federalist Society President Eugene B. Meyer (not pictured) and Vice President Leonard A. Leo. November 28, 2006. (Getty Images)
Thursday’s vote came weeks after the Supreme Court issued a new “code of conduct” in response to months of intense scrutiny from Democratic lawmakers and the press. Mr. Durbin called on Congress to impose stricter standards on the high court, calling the self-imposed ethics rules “far inadequate.”
Republicans have criticized the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act (SCERT), proposed by Democrats, as a “courtroom murder machine” that would “destroy the legitimacy of conservative courts.” They argue that federal judges, including those on the Supreme Court, are already bound by ethics rules and that Congress’s actions regarding the judiciary would unconstitutionally infringe on an independent and co-equal branch of government.
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Senate Judiciary Secretary Dick Durbin, Democrat of Illinois; at a committee hearing. (Tom Williams Pool/Getty Images)
Ahead of the hearing, Republican senators introduced more than 170 amendments that Durbin told reporters were an attempt to delay the subpoena.
“This is a demonstration of their determination to delay the opportunity to issue subpoenas against Leonard Leo and others involved in this case,” Durbin said. “I think they are very afraid that there was information out there that could be controversial and potentially harmful.”
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Associate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas speaks at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, DC on October 21, 2021. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
But Republicans denounced the Democratic-led effort as political theater. “I call this subpoenapalooza,” Sen. Thom Tillis, RN.C., told reporters outside the hearing room.
Mr. Graham disagreed with Democrats, saying if they were serious about the allegations against Mr. Thomas and Mr. Alito, he would bring the SCERT Act to a vote. “Why isn’t the majority leader introducing the bill that you all voted for to fix this problem?” he demanded, later saying that Democrats didn’t have enough support to pass it in the Senate. He said he would not move forward with the bill.
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“I don’t know who’s driving the train on your side, but you’re driving the committee into a ditch,” Graham added, calling the subpoena vote “a joke.”
FOX News’ Tyler Olson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
