'Lowest ethical standards.' Lawmakers spar over Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas revelations

WASHINGTON − Senate Democrats on Tuesday pummeled the Supreme Court over a series of ethics controversies that have come to light in recent weeks, arguing that Congress must step in to impose tighter standards on the nation's highest court if the justices themselves decline to embrace a rigorous code of conduct.

But Republicans used the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Supreme Court ethics to question news coverage of the scandals and argue that Democrats are attempting to weaken a court that has in recent months landed on conservative outcomes in cases involving abortion, guns, the environment, religion and a host of other culture war controversies.

Taken together, the hearing underscored how ethics reform at the Supreme Court has transformed into a partisan issue in recent years and how it is at least partly entangled with the court's decision last year to overturn Roe v. Wade and end the constitutional right to abortion that case established. That will almost certainly complicate efforts in Congress and on the court itself to change the status quo.

"The highest court in the land shouldn't have the lowest ethical standards," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. "The Supreme Court won't even acknowledge it's a problem."

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The hearing was scheduled in response a series of stories in ProPublica last month that revealed private jet trips and luxury yacht travel Justice Clarence Thomas accepted from Harlan Crow. The GOP megadonor also purchased property from Thomas and his family – none of which was reported on the disclosure forms. Thomas acknowledged the trips, describing Crow as a friend and saying he was "advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable."

Since then, additional stories have raised questions about a vacation home Justice Neil Gorsuch sold to a prominent attorney whose firm represents clients before the court and the ties between conservative justices and a prominent law school in Virginia.

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Chief Justice John Roberts has not addressed the controversies directly, and he declined an invitation from Durbin to testify at Tuesday's hearing. All nine justices signed a "statement on ethics principles and practices" last month that largely defended the way the court reviews ethical concerns. The court did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday about the hearing.

'Selective outrage.' Republicans question those seeking ethics standards

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., accused Democrats of trying to undermine the Supreme Court over disagreement with its recent decisions. After Justice Amy Coney Barrett's confirmation at the end of President Donald Trump's presidency, the high court is the most conservative it has been in decades.

"There's a very selective outrage here," Graham said. " This is not about making the court better. This is about destroying a conservative court."

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But not all those calling for stronger ethics standards at the court are Democrats. In past years, there was some bipartisan support in Congress for increasing transparency. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is co-sponsoring legislation that would require the Supreme Court to create a code of conduct and publish it on its website.

Conservative former federal Judge Luttig wades into ethics debate

A conservative former federal judge, meanwhile, told the committee in a written statement Tuesday that the Supreme Court should "subject itself to the highest possible professional and ethical standards."

J. Michael Luttig, a former appeals court judge nominated by President George H.W. Bush who has close ties to the high court, said that the court has a responsibility to "jealously preserve" its independence from the other branches of government. Part of maintaining that independence, Luttig suggested, is to ensure that the public has confidence in how justices are handling themselves on and off the bench.

"The nation should never have reason to question the ethical conduct of the Supreme Court. It is the responsibility of the Supreme Court, and of each justice who serves on the Court, to ensure that there never even be such a question raised," Luttig wrote.

"For its part, the Supreme Court should want, without quibble, to subject itself to the highest possible professional and ethical standards that would render the Court beyond reproach, because such would ensureto the fullest extent possible that the Court is always beyond reproach in its nonjudicialconduct and activities."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Clarence Thomas: Senators spar over Supreme Court ethics scandals