The Judicial Conference, a judicial organization that sets national policy for federal courts, has rejected requests from Democratic lawmakers to refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to the Justice Department over free travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors that were omitted from his financial disclosure forms. The group stated that Thomas had filed amended financial disclosures to address the issues raised and questioned whether they had the authority to investigate Supreme Court justices. Similar requests were made against Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, but both justices have amended their financial disclosures and have agreed to follow guidance issued to other federal judges.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse criticized the response from the Judicial Conference, stating that they failed to address the core question of whether Justice Thomas had willfully violated disclosure laws. Whitehouse accused the judicial branch of shirking its duty to hold a Supreme Court justice accountable for ethics violations. Requests for comments from Representative Hank Johnson and Citizens for Renewing America, a conservative social welfare group, were unanswered.
Justice Thomas’s attorney, Elliot S. Berke, stated that his client had fully complied with the new disclosure requirements and that a reporting exemption for personal hospitality gifts did not apply to transportation and commercial property gifts. Whitehouse and Senator Ron Wyden previously made a plea to the Justice Department to criminally investigate Thomas for possible violations of federal ethics and tax laws, but no investigations have been announced. Questions remain over the enforcement of the Supreme Court’s ethics code adopted in 2023.
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