A nearly two-year investigation by Democratic senators of Supreme Court ethics has revealed more luxury travel taken by Justice Clarence Thomas, including a private jet flight to New York’s Adirondacks and a jet and yacht trip to New York City sponsored by billionaire Harlan Crow. The report, which detailed over two dozen instances of Thomas taking luxury travel and gifts from wealthy benefactors, urges Congress to establish a way to enforce a new code of conduct. The court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023, but it leaves compliance to each of the nine justices.
The report also found that Thomas has accepted gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors worth more than $4.75 million since his 1991 confirmation and failed to disclose much of it. Other justices, including Samuel Alito and Sonia Sotomayor, have also taken gifts and travel that were not disclosed on their annual financial disclosure forms.
The Democratic majority of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led by Chairman Dick Durbin, has called for an enforceable code of ethics, arguing that the highest court in the land cannot have the lowest ethical standards. Republicans, however, have protested the subpoenas authorized for Crow and others as part of the investigation and no formal report from them was expected.
The report comes as public confidence in the court has fallen to record lows, and as Congress prepares to take control of the Senate in January. The hurdles in imposing restrictions on a separate branch of government are significant, making it unlikely that any movement on the issue will occur in the near future.