“We represent Harlan Crow in relation to your letters of May 8, 2023 (the ‘Letters’). Today, we also are responding on behalf of CH Asset Company, Carey Commercial, and Topridge Holdings. We recognize the important role the Senate Judiciary Committee has in considering legislation related to our federal court system, and we appreciate the opportunity to engage with the Committee.”

“After careful consideration, we do not believe the Committee has the authority to investigate Mr Crow’s personal friendship with Justice Clarence Thomas. Most importantly, Congress does not have the constitutional power to impose ethics rules and standards on the Supreme Court. Doing so would exceed Congress’s Article I authority and violate basic separation of powers principles. That precludes the Committee from pursuing an investigation in support of such legislation.”

“Separately, the Committee has not identified a valid legislative purpose for its investigation and is not authorized to conduct an ethics investigation of a Supreme Court Justice. The Committee’s stated purpose of crafting new ethics guidelines for the Supreme Court is inconsistent with its actions and the circumstances in which this investigation was launched, all of which suggest that the Committee is targeting Justice Thomas for special and unwarranted opprobrium. Moreover, any information the Committee might legitimately need to draft legislation on this subject is readily available from other sources, the use of which would not trigger the same separation of powers concerns created by the Committee’s requests to Mr Crow,” says a letter from some Texas lawyer chodes telling Dems to fuck off on investigating Crow’s ownership of Justice Clarence Thomas.

The whole “a valid legislative purpose” part was a particularly nice touch, like the legislative body responsible for appointing the judiciary has no mandate for overseeing their conduct.