The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday invited Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts to testify next month before the panel about ethics reform of the court.
The invitation to Roberts by Sen. Dick Dubin, D-Unwell., for the May 2 appearance got here within the wake of a series of revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas which have reignited calls for the Supreme Court to higher police the conduct of its own members.
On April 6, ProPublica reported that the conservative Thomas failed for nearly 20 years to reveal luxurious trips paid for by Republican billionaire donor Harlan Crow.
Last week, the identical news outlet reported that Thomas did not disclose that Crow had purchased property from Thomas and his relatives, which included a house where Thomas’ mother still lives.
On Monday, The Washington Post reported that Thomas on financial disclosure forms for greater than 20 years had claimed to have earned income from a Nebraska real estate firm that has been closed since 2006.
In his letter Thursday to Roberts, Durbin wrote, “Your last significant discussion of how Supreme Court Justices address ethical issues was presented in your 2011 Yr-End Report on the Federal Judiciary.”
“Since then, there was a gentle stream of revelations regarding Justices falling wanting the moral standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally,” Durbin wrote.
“These problems were already apparent back in 2011, and the Court’s decade-long failure to deal with them has contributed to a crisis of public confidence,” Durbin wrote. “The establishment is not any longer tenable.
“The time has come for a recent public conversation on ways to revive confidence within the Court’s ethical standards. I invite you to hitch it, and I stay up for your response.”
A Supreme Court spokeswoman didn’t immediately reply to CNBC when asked if Roberts would accept Durbin’s invitation.
If Roberts doesn’t voluntarily comply with testify, Congress might be left with few options to compel testimony.
While Supreme Court justices have testified before congressional appropriations committees regarding the budget for the high court, there isn’t a clear precedent for asking a justice to testify about ethical standards for his or her colleagues.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, the rating Republican on the Judiciary Committee, on Thursday said that Durbin’s invitation to Roberts “opens up Pandora’s box, in my opinion.”
“Let him cope with the situation in his own backyard,” Graham said of Roberts, in response to NBC News.
“I could be surprised if he agreed to return,” Graham added, “And I might support his decision not to return if that is what he desired to do.”
Following ProPublica’s revelations about Thomas’ financial relationship with Crow, the left-leaning group Common Cause sent a letter to each the House and Senate judiciary committees urging them to ask each Thomas and Roberts to testify.
“We strongly urge you… to carry hearings that examine exactly what happened — including testimony from Justice Thomas — and put it on the record for the American people,” wrote Marilyn Carpinteyro, interim co-president of Common Cause.
Unlike the Senate, where Democrats have a majority, the Republican-controlled Home is unlikely to take motion in response to the ProPublica reporting.
At a Capitol Hill press conference Thursday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was asked whether he had any concerns about Thomas accepting gifts from Crow that were never disclosed.
“No, by no means,” McCarthy replied. “By no means.”
That is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
