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Post by the Scribe on Nov 10, 2023 2:52:52 GMT
Senate Democrats want to subpoena wealthy Republicans
KOIN 6
WATCH LIVE: Senate committee votes on subpoena for GOP donor in Supreme Court ethics investigation
PBS NewsHour
doesn't this tell you everything you need to know about the GOP, CONservatives and the right wing in general?Democrats Back Down on Harlan Crow Subpoena After GOP Promises “Sh*tshow”
www.yahoo.com/news/why-dick-durbin-afraid-doing-192514782.html
Tori Otten
Thu, November 9, 2023 at 12:25 PM MST·2 min read
152
The Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday walked back a planned vote to subpoena two megadonors connected to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The reason? Republicans threw a fit.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/politics/senate-judiciary-subpoena-leonard-leo-harlan-crow-supreme-court/index.html
www.yahoo.com/news/finally-senate-democrats-coming-clarence-155843128.html
newrepublic.com/article/172495/clarence-thomas-crow-leo-money
newrepublic.com/article/174631/leonard-leo-mazars-ethics-investigation
Democrats on the Judiciary Committee finally took the first step last week to address the high court’s ethics crisis and announced they would seek to subpoena Republican billionaire megadonor Harlan Crow and ultraconservative activist Leonard Leo. Both men feature prominently in the ethics scandal for their relationships with Thomas and Alito. The committee said it would also seek to subpoena wealthy GOP donor Robin Arkley II.
But Chair Dick Durbin appeared to put that all on hold on Thursday, when he abruptly ended a committee meeting after outraged Republicans threatened to retaliate if Crow and Leo were subpoenaed.
Committee Republicans threatened to file multiple amendments relating to border security, social media use, and liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor in opposition to attempts to investigate conservative justices and donors.
newrepublic.com/article/174418/sonia-sotomoyors-book-scandal-banal-troubling
“You’re going to have a complete shitshow, but if that’s what you want, that’s what you’re gonna get,” Senator Lindsey Graham warned.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/politics/senate-judiciary-subpoena-leonard-leo-harlan-crow-supreme-court/index.html
Senator Josh Hawley accused Democrats of orchestrating a “witch hunt” against Thomas.
www.cnn.com/2023/11/09/politics/senate-judiciary-subpoena-leonard-leo-harlan-crow-supreme-court/index.html
Durbin backed down and told reporters the committee may try again next week to vote on the subpoenas.
Judiciary Democrats’ spineless response is disappointing, to say the least. Other attempts to rein in the high court and establish a formal code of ethics have stalled. Meanwhile, confidence in the Supreme Court as an institution is rapidly sinking over the ethics scandal.
newrepublic.com/post/174480/senate-judiciary-finally-passes-bill-go-corrupt-supreme-court-justices
newrepublic.com/post/172144/poll-two-thirds-americans-dont-confidence-supreme-court
Crow, a Nazi memorabilia collector, has repeatedly lavished Thomas with expensive gifts. These include island-hopping yacht vacations, private school tuition for Thomas’s nephew, and buying and renovating a Thomas family property, where Thomas’s mother still lives.
newrepublic.com/article/171950/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-corrupt
newrepublic.com/post/171661/clarence-thomas-vacations-harlan-crow-republican-megadonor
newrepublic.com/post/172430/clarence-thomas-friend-confirms-harlan-crow-tuition-story
newrepublic.com/post/171904/clarence-thomas-sold-mom-home-gop-megadonor-harlan-crow
Thomas has also been Crow’s guest at Bohemian Grove, which ProPublica describes as a “secretive all-men’s retreat in Northern California” that attracts major corporate and political players. It costs thousands of dollars for a member to bring a guest to the Grove, but Crow has reportedly brought Thomas there almost every year for the past two decades.
www.yahoo.com/news/clarence-thomas-corruption-saga-just-143955443.html
Thomas’s visits to the Grove helped him develop a relationship with the Koch brothers. Thomas has participated in events for the Koch donor network for at least a decade. All of his appearances were arranged with the help of dark-money king Leo.
www.yahoo.com/news/footage-reveals-koch-network-plans-215945734.html
In addition to securing Thomas’s goodwill, Leo also helped organize a luxury vacation that Alito went on. Neither Thomas nor Alito had disclosed any of these lavish gifts on their financial statements.
newrepublic.com/post/173814/samuel-alitos-tacky-defense-ruled-case-billionaire-fishing-pal
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Post by the Scribe on Nov 10, 2023 2:57:22 GMT
US Senate Democrats scrub vote on Supreme Court ethics subpoenas
www.yahoo.com/news/us-senate-democrats-vote-supreme-110802019.html
John Kruzel and Andrew Chung
Updated Thu, November 9, 2023 at 11:36 AM MST·3 min read
69
FILE PHOTO: Birds fly past the United States Supreme Court in Washington
By John Kruzel and Andrew Chung
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday postponed a planned vote on authorizing subpoenas to a pair of influential conservatives with ties to the U.S. Supreme Court as part of an ethics inquiry spurred by reports of undisclosed largesse directed to some conservative justices.
Senator Dick Durbin, the committee's chairman, cited unspecified "scheduling issues" for adjourning the hearing.
The committee had planned a vote to subpoena billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow, a benefactor of conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, and conservative legal activist Leonard Leo, who was instrumental in compiling Republican former President Donald Trump's list of potential Supreme Court nominees.
"We will continue our efforts to authorize subpoenas in the near future. The highest court in the land cannot have the lowest ethical standards," Durbin said in a statement.
Some panel members attributed the delay to numerous amendments proposed by Republicans including to issue an expanded range of subpoenas - such as to liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor's staff in response to a media report that aides promoted sales of her books in conjunction with her speaking events.
Republican Senator John Cornyn, a committee member, said he was glad the panel's Democratic majority had "hit the brakes" on the subpoena vote.
"I hope they realize what a dumb thing that was to do, because when the (Senate) majority changes, when the shoe is on the other foot, it sets a terrible precedent," Cornyn said.
Republican Senator Tom Cotton, also a committee member, said some of the Democrats got "weak-kneed on their subpoena."
Durbin began the hearing by seeking to justify the subpoenas in light of the refusal by Crow and Leo to voluntarily comply with the panel's previous requests for information, including itemized lists of all gifts, transportation and lodging provided to any Supreme Court justice.
The committee is "not engaged in a vendetta against conservatives" or trying to score political points, Durbin said.
"Leonard Leo and Harlan Crow are central players in the ethics challenge facing the court," Durbin added. "Their baseless refusal to respond to the committee's valid inquiries (prevents) us from understanding the full scope of this issue."
However, after holding votes to favorably send President Joe Biden's nominations of two federal judges to the full Senate, the hearing adjourned.
Lawyers for Leo and Crow in letters to the committee criticized the information requests as lacking a proper legal justification. Crow's lawyer proposed turning over a narrower range of information but Democrats rebuffed that offer, according to the panel's Democratic members.
Durbin said on Wednesday that the committee dropped its plan also to subpoena Robin Arkley II after the conservative donor "provided the committee with information that he had been withholding."
Republicans have painted the actions of the committee's Democrats as an attempt to tarnish the Supreme Court after it handed major defeats to liberals in recent years on matters including abortion, gun rights and student debt relief.
"I think we're going too far by subpoenaing private citizens," said Senator Lindsey Graham, the committee's top Republican.
The news outlet ProPublica reported this year on Thomas's failure to disclose luxury trips and real estate transactions involving Crow, a Texas businessman.
It also reported that Leo helped organize a luxury fishing trip in Alaska attended by conservative Justice Samuel Alito, who failed to disclose taking a private jet provided by billionaire hedge fund manager Paul Singer. Trump chose all three of his appointees to the court from lists of candidates that Leo played a key role in drawing up, giving it a 6-3 conservative majority.
The committee in July approved a Democratic-backed bill that would mandate a binding ethics code for the justices. Given Republican opposition, it has little chance of becoming law.
(Reporting by John Kruzel and Andrew Chung; Additional reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Will Dunham) |
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Post by the Scribe on Nov 10, 2023 3:02:55 GMT
‘Ethical crisis’: Senate Democrats want to subpoena wealthy Republicans
www.yahoo.com/news/ethical-crisis-senate-democrats-want-223004647.html
Alexandra Limon
Thu, November 9, 2023 at 3:30 PM MST·1 min read
WASHINGTON (Nexstar) — Senate democrats want to subpoena wealthy Republicans to get information about alleged luxury gifts given to Supreme Court justices.
But their effort to investigate the matter hit a roadblock on Thursday.
The absence of an ethics code for Supreme Court justices means the justices aren’t required to recuse themselves from cases that involve the interests of wealthy individuals.
“Congress needs to understand the full scope of the court’s ethical crisis,” said Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.).
Republican lawmakers made it clear they’re opposed to issuing the subpoenas.
“You’ve opened up Pandora’s Box and you’ll get a look into it. It’s not very pretty,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). “We could spend all of our time talking about what we would like to subpoena.”
Graham, as well as Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), said they planned to offer so many amendments and subpoenas of their own that the process would grind to a halt.
“I think we need to get to the bottom of President Biden’s efforts to silence Elon Musk. That’s why I’ve filed a subpoena,” Blackburn said.
The committee adjourned without taking the expected vote. But Democrats vowed to try again.
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