Durbin, Whitehouse Announce Vote To Authorize Subpoenas For Crow, Leo, And Arkley Related To Supreme Court Ethics Reform In Judiciary Committee

Press Release

"The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making. Thanks to investigative reporting, we now know that for decades, some justices have been joining billionaires with business before the Court on their private planes and yachts or receiving gifts such as private school tuition for a family member. And it is through this reporting that we learned the justices have not been disclosing these gifts as required by federal laws that expressly apply to them. By accepting these lavish, undisclosed gifts, the justices have enabled their wealthy benefactors and other individuals with business before the Court to gain private access to the justices while preventing public scrutiny of this conduct.

But this is just what we know from investigative reporting. In order to adequately address this crisis, it is imperative that we understand the full extent of how people with interests before the Court are able to use undisclosed gifts to gain private access to the justices. The inquiries the Committee has sent to Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Arkley are critical to this work. However, they have either refused to comply or offered to produce certain limited information that fell well short of what the Committee needs and to which it is entitled.

Due to Crow, Leo, and Arkley's intransigence, the Committee is now forced to seek compulsory process to obtain the information they hold. Therefore, Chair Durbin will be asking the Committee to grant him authorization to issue subpoenas to these individuals.

The Chief Justice could fix this problem today and adopt a binding code of conduct. As long as he refuses to act, the Judiciary Committee will."

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