US Senate Democrats scrub vote on Supreme Court ethics subpoenas

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)