“We write regarding the April 6, 2023 report by ProPublica entitled ‘Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire.’ The report describes conduct by a sitting Justice that he did not disclose to the public and that is plainly inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any person in a position of public trust. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which has legislative jurisdiction over Federal courts and judges, has a role to play in ensuring that the nation’s highest court does not have the federal judiciary’s lowest ethical standards. 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. We urge you to immediately open such an investigation and take all needed action to prevent further misconduct.”

“This is not the first time that members of this Committee have written you regarding concerns over the Supreme Court’s ethical standards. Eleven years ago, several members of the Committee, including the current Chair, sent you the attached letter urging the Court to adopt a resolution stating that the Justices of the Court abide by the Judicial Conference’s Code of Conduct for United States Judges-a Code that binds every other judge in the federal judiciary. You responded that the Court ‘does not plan to adopt the Code of Conduct for United States Judges through a formal resolution,’ and referenced your 2011 Year-End Report, in which you said ‘the Court has had no reason to adopt the Code of Conduct as its definitive source of ethical guidance.’ We submit that the Court has compelling reasons to do so, and urge prompt adoption of the Code of Conduct. While last month’s revision to the Judicial Conference’s guidance on judicial financial disclosures was a modest step in the right direction, further action is needed,” writes Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin to Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after the ProPublica report on Clarence Thomas’s luxury trips paid for by his Hitler-loving billionaire pal Harlan Crow.