What will Democrats do about Supreme Court ethics scandals?

The Supreme Court likes to think of itself as one of the last Washington institutions that is above partisan politics.

The justices’ lifetime appointments and lack of cameras inside the courtroom have helped promote the view that the high court operates with impartiality when interpreting the law. But controversial decisions, Senate fights over judicial appointments and a recent spate of ethics scandals have imperiled this state of affairs.

Will these scandals change how Americans think about the court, or how the court thinks of itself? How will Democratic lawmakers respond?

Hello, my name is Erin B. Logan. I cover national politics for the L.A. Times. This week we are going to discuss the Supreme Court, ethics and Congress’ response.

Scandals, scandals and more scandals

Federal judges are required to report expenses paid for by outside groups. Supreme Court justices are not exempt from this rule, but it includes an exception for the “personal hospitality of any individual,” so long as that hospitality does not involve official business.

Conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, however, has not disclosed lavish gifts and trips paid for by Dallas Republican donor Harlan Crow, ProPublica reported last month. He and his wife, Ginni, globetrotted on private jets and super-yachts, all at Crow’s expense.

“These trips appeared nowhere on Thomas’ financial disclosures,” the journalism nonprofit reported, adding that the failure to report flights seemed to violate federal law passed in the wake of the Watergate scandal.

This isn’t the first time Thomas failed to disclose gifts.

L.A. Times writer David G. Savage in 2004 reported that the justice previously accepted expensive gifts and private plane trips from Crow and that Thomas was once Crow’s guest at Northern California’s Bohemian Grove, which hosts retreats for powerful men. Since Savage’s reporting, it appears that Thomas stopped disclosing these gifts.

ProPublica also reported that one of Crow’s companies in 2014 purchased the home Thomas’ elderly mother currently lives in. He also spent tens of thousands of dollars to renovate the property.

(Crow said he intended to one day make the home into a public museum that honored Thomas.)

Thomas is not the only justice who failed to fully disclose his financial dealings.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch made between $250,001 and $500,000 off a property sale to a legal executive whose firm had business before the high court, Politico reported. Though Gorsuch reported the sale, he did not disclose the purchaser.

Democrats fight back?

These bombshells, coupled with other reporting on the political activity conducted by Ginni Thomas amid the Jan. 6 insurrection, have incensed Democrats. The left was already livid that the high court had overturned Roe vs. Wade and seemed likely to gut protections Americans have enjoyed for decades.

But the Thomas ethics scandal gave Democratic senators a stick to whack the court with.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, last month urged Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. to probe Thomas’ undisclosed gifts and move to halt “further misconduct.”

“You have a role to play as well, both in investigating how such conduct could take place at the Court under your watch, and in ensuring that such conduct does not happen again,” Durbin wrote the chief justice.

Durbin also asked Roberts to appear at a congressional hearing. Roberts last week declined, saying it was “exceedingly rare” for the holder of his position to give testimony. Roberts instead offered a signed ethics statement from all nine justices.

Senate Democrats did not accept this as an appropriate response and are pressing ahead.

On Tuesday, Senate Democrats vowed to beef up ethics standards for the high court, saying the current standards have gutted public confidence, the Associated Press reported.

Ahead of the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, Durbin said lawmakers must move to change the current situation.

“The Supreme Court could step up and fix this themselves,” Durbin said, according to the Associated Press. “For years, they have refused, and because the court will not act, Congress must.”

Ranking Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina decried the move as an attempt to destroy Thomas’ legacy.

“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.”

The latest from the campaign trail

— Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, widely viewed as a potential 2024 GOP presidential candidate, on Monday ruled out launching a bid for the White House this year, Times writer Seema Mehta reported.

— Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) is far from the first politician to try to elevate her profile and charm voters and potential donors by releasing a memoir while kicking off a campaign for higher office, Times writers Benjamin Oreskes and Melanie Mason reported. But Porter’s strategy is another example of how a Senate campaign in California, a vast territory that’s home to nearly 40 million people, can require quasi-national campaign tactics.

— Republican Ron DeSantis would not have to resign as Florida governor in order to run for president if he chooses under a bill given final approval Friday by the GOP-dominated state Legislature, the Associated Press reported. The measure, attached to a broader elections bill, would carve out an exemption to Florida law requiring anyone seeking office to vacate their current seat after qualifying as a candidate.

— A woman testified Tuesday that Donald Trump molested her with what seemed like “40 zillion hands” on an airline flight in the late 1970s — years before writer E. Jean Carroll says he sexually assaulted her at a Manhattan department store, the Associated Press reported.

The view from Washington

— The Biden administration plans to send 1,500 active duty soldiers to the U.S.-Mexico border for 90 days, Times writer Andrea Castillo reported. The move comes ahead of the anticipated increase of migrants arriving at the southern border when a pandemic-related border policy expires next week, though U.S. Department of Homeland Security officials said service members would not perform law enforcement functions or interact with migrants in custody.

— The race to replace retiring Sen. Dianne Feinstein is well underway, but as California’s senior senator has missed nearly 60 votes over the last two months, some liberal Democrats are calling for her to resign, Times writers Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu and Seema Mehta reported. With a narrowly divided Senate, questions have arisen about the options for Democrats if Feinstein does not return to the U.S. Capitol but does not resign.

— Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen notified Congress on Monday that the U.S. could default on its debt as early as June 1, if legislators do not raise or suspend the nation’s borrowing authority before then and avert what could potentially become a global financial crisis, the Associated Press reported. Biden on Monday invited the four congressional leaders to the White House on May 9 to discuss the matter.

— The Biden administration will end most of the last remaining federal COVID-19 vaccine requirements next week when the national public health emergency for the coronavirus ends, the White House said Monday, the Associated Press reported.

The view from California

— Renewing a legal battle that some had considered settled, gun rights advocates filed a federal lawsuit this week challenging a California law that places a 10-day waiting period on most firearm purchases, Times writer Kevin Rector reported. The law is aimed in part at deterring people from rushing to harm themselves or others with newly purchased weapons during periods of sudden distress or anger.

— As California legislators prepared to pass a law providing victims of childhood sexual abuse a new window to file lawsuits, the bill’s chief backer recalls most of the resistance coming from entities with famously troubled histories: school districts, colleges and youth athletic groups, along with some of their insurance companies, Times writer Rebecca Ellis reported.

— L.A. Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed budget for the Los Angeles Animal Services department is facing pushback from city officials who want more funding for the troubled department, Times writer Dakota Smith reported.

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