Durbin asks Chief Justice John Roberts to testify about Supreme Court ethics after Thomas revelations

WASHINGTON – The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday requested that Chief Justice John Roberts testify at a hearing next month about ethical rules that govern the nation's highest court, a response to recent revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas accepting lavish travel from a GOP megadonor.

"The status quo is no longer tenable," Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote in a letter to Roberts. "The time has come for a new public conversation on ways to restore confidence in the court's ethical standards."

The request follows a series of ProPublica stories this month that identified luxury trips Thomas accepted from billionaire Harlan Crow, including international travel on Crow's private jet and yacht. Those trips, which were not noted on disclosure reports, have heightened scrutiny on the Supreme Court's ability to police ethical conflicts.

The court did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Justice Clarence Thomas continues to face scrutiny, criticism from Congress

• Thomas, the court's most senior associate justice, is facing scrutiny over a pair of ProPublica stories, including one about the lavish travel paid for by Crow and another involving property in Georgia that Crow bought from Thomas and members of his family. Thomas disclosed neither the trips nor the property sales.

• Congressional Democrats have called for investigations into Thomas. Durbin has for several days discussed the possibility of hearings about the revelations. In his letter Thursday, Durbin invited Roberts or another justice to testify at a hearing on May 2.

• The letter may add political pressure on the Supreme Court to offer some sort of response to the Thomas story. At the same time, Roberts has fiercely defended the court's independence and the justices have ignored such requests in the past.

Is Chief Justice John Roberts considering a code of ethics?

Unlike other federal courts, the Supreme Court doesn't formally follow a code of ethics. Justice Elena Kagan told lawmakers in 2019 that Roberts was weighing such a code but it's not clear if any progress has been made since. The Washington Post reported in February that the justices had failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

Roberts asserted in 2011 that Congress has no constitutional authority to impose a code of ethics on the high court. And there are significant institutional questions about how such a code would work in practice: Who would enforce it, for instance?

Questions: In defending gifts from a GOP billionaire, Thomas raises more questions 

Property: Billionaire Crow purchased property from Thomas, according to new report

Ethics: Ginni Thomas' texts to Trump aides reopen battle over when Supreme Court justices should recuse

But the Thomas revelations have put added pressure on the court to take some action on ethics. Last month, a judicial policy-making body closed a much-criticized loophole in financial disclosure requirements that will make it harder for justices to avoid reporting similar lavish gifts and travel. Thomas has said he will follow the new guidance.

Thomas acknowledged that he and his wife, Ginni Thomas, joined Crow and his wife Kathy on a number of "family trips" during the more than a quarter century they have known them. In a statement earlier this month, Thomas described Crow and his wife as "among our dearest friends."

"Early in my tenure at the court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the court, was not reportable," Thomas said.

Contributing: Josh Meyer 

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Durbin asks John Roberts to testify after Clarence Thomas revelations