[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 179 (Tuesday, October 31, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5238-S5239]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                           U.S. Supreme Court

  Mr. DURBIN. Mr. President, last night, I announced that the Senate 
Judiciary Committee, which I chair, will vote to subpoena Harlan Crow, 
Robin Arkley, and Leonard Leo--two billionaire megadonors and one of 
their enablers--who sit at the center of the ethical crisis currently 
gripping the U.S. Supreme Court.
  This vote is the next step in the committee's ongoing investigation 
on the ethics of the Supreme Court. It comes only after Mr. Crow 
refused to comply with committee requests and Mr. Leo and Arkley 
outright stonewalled the committee in the exercise of our 
constitutional authority.
  For years--years--reports of ethical misconduct by individual 
Justices on the Court have raised serious concerns; but over the past 
year, a series of investigative reports have brought the long-simmering 
issue to a boil. Story after story has emerged about lavish gifts and 
luxury trips that Supreme Court Justices shamelessly accepted and 
failed to disclose. The reported behavior is unworthy of anyone in 
public office, and it has led to an historic loss of public confidence 
in the Supreme Court.
  Some background here is necessary. Harlan Crow is a billionaire and a 
Republican megadonor. He first met Justice Clarence Thomas in the mid-
1990s after Thomas's confirmation to the Supreme Court. Not long after 
they met, Crow began to shower Justice Thomas with lavish gifts, 
flights on his private jet, invitations to an all-male, invitation-only 
private club, and a $19,000 Bible that once belonged to Frederick 
Douglass.
  We know about these initial gifts because Justice Thomas listed them 
and disclosed them on the financial disclosure forms he was required to 
submit under Federal law, but those disclosures abruptly stopped in 
2004, almost 20 years ago, after a Los Angeles Times report questioned 
their propriety.
  We have since learned that Justice Thomas since continued to receive 
gifts from Crow that are staggering in both their number and value--
from additional flights on Crow's private jets to nearly annual stays 
at Crow's luxury camps and private clubs, to vacations on Crow's 
superyacht. Justice Thomas simply stopped disclosing these gifts to the 
American people.
  But Harlan Crow is not the only billionaire bankrolling the lavish 
lifestyle of a Supreme Court Justice, and Justice Clarence Thomas is 
not the only Justice to accept improper gifts.
  Let's turn to Robin Arkley. In 2008, Arkley hosted Justice Samuel 
Alito in his luxury fishing lodge in Alaska. There, Alito fished, flew 
on the lodge's bush planes, and enjoyed wine costing upwards of $1,000 
a bottle--$1,000 a bottle. Justice Alito included none of this on his 
financial disclosure--nothing.
  That 2008 luxury fishing trip was arranged by a man named Leonard 
Leo. Leo has been a longtime leader of the

[[Page S5239]]

conservative Federalist Society and other far-right organizations. He 
is the key architect of the rightwing campaign to take over the Federal 
courts, facilitating relationships between political donors and 
Justices, championing conservative political causes, and wielding a 
shadowy network of influence over Federal and State judges.
  How can a Supreme Court Justice accept such lavish gifts, let alone 
fail to disclose them to the American people? The answer is very 
simple: The Supreme Court of the United States, the highest court in 
the land, does not have an enforceable code of conduct. Unlike 
employees of the executive and legislative branches--virtually all of 
them--unlike Members of Congress and all other Federal judges, the nine 
Supreme Court Justices alone decide for themselves what conduct is and 
is not appropriate.
  More than 11 years ago, I asked Chief Justice Roberts to adopt a 
binding code of conduct for all Supreme Court Justices. I have renewed 
that request repeatedly this year, including last month when I sat 
literally physically next to the Chief Justice and spoke at the 
Judicial Conference. Some Justices have now publicly joined the call 
for an ethics code. I do believe the majority of the Justices on the 
Supreme Court are embarrassed by these disclosures and want this to 
come to an end.
  So far, Chief Justice John Roberts and the Court have failed to do 
anything. In the face of the Supreme Court's failure, the Senate 
Judiciary Committee has exercised its constitutional right and duty to 
investigate this ethical crisis in order to craft and advance 
legislation to address it.
  Beginning in May, the committee has sent letters to a number of these 
billionaires, activists, and organizations connected to the undisclosed 
gifts and travel. I am sorry to say I happen to believe that we have 
just seen a small amount of the lavish gifts that have gone to the 
members of the Court. Thanks to the investigative efforts of 
journalists, as well as the Senate Finance Committee, we have 
discovered some of these things, but, sadly, I believe there is much 
more out there.
  We are seeking details about what exactly has been given to these 
Supreme Court Justices as well as how certain individuals and groups 
that have business before the Court gained such enormous access to the 
private lives of these Justices. Getting this information is critical.
  While there has been reporting on the Justices' ethical failures, I 
am sorry to say that there is more information out there we need to 
find.
  Just last week--listen to this--the Senate Finance Committee revealed 
that yet another wealthy benefactor, Anthony Welters, had forgiven a 
$267,000 interest-only loan to Justice Thomas to purchase a luxury RV. 
Justice Thomas failed to disclose that.
  So you understand what happened: The Justice, who seems to fancy 
these RVs, had his eye on one that cost over a quarter of a million 
dollars. Mr. Welters agreed to loan him the money to buy the RV. 
Justice Thomas made one annual payment of interest on that debt, and 
then the debt was forgiven. And so the RV is his, a gift from Mr. 
Welters.
  While the loan itself had been the subject of prior reporting, it was 
only through the Finance Committee's investigation--and the cooperation 
of Mr. Welters, let me add--that the favorable terms of the loan and 
its ultimate forgiveness came to light. In contrast to Mr. Welters' 
willing cooperation, Leonard Leo, Harlan Crow, and Robin Arkley--more 
of these fawning billionaires--have produced no substantive response 
and have otherwise stalled the Judiciary Committee's investigation.
  Instead, their responses offer a host of baseless arguments that 
ignore the committee's constitutional authority to inform its 
legislative efforts. Their defensive and dismissive response make you 
wonder, What are they trying to hide?
  I am not going to stand idly by as these fawning billionaires, with 
interests before the Court, use their immense wealth to buy private 
access to the Justices and then deny the Senate Judiciary Committee 
information to which we are lawfully entitled. That is why the 
committee will vote to authorize subpoenas to these individuals.
  This has been a long battle for many of us, and my colleague Senator 
Whitehouse has shown extraordinary leadership on this issue as well.
  Eleven years ago, it came to my attention that the Supreme Court just 
didn't have a code of conduct. How can we justify this? Nine Justices 
on the highest Court in the land, no code of conduct. What about the 
other Federal judges? They are bound by a code of conduct. If the 
Justices on the Supreme Court merely assumed the same code of conduct, 
with some modifications, we would at least say they are making a step 
in the right direction, but they ignored it, and they resisted it. In 
fact, Justice Alito and Justice Thomas have been belligerent when they 
have been confronted with these issues; that it is no one's business 
but their own as to what they do with their private lives.
  Unfortunately, when you accept a post in public service, that is not 
the case. Our private lives become part of that public service. And 
certainly, if there is any suggestion of a conflict in a situation 
where individuals--billionaires--who have an interest before the Court 
are buying access and time with these Justices, that is certainly 
relevant to our work in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
  Mr. President, as a member of the committee, you understand we have 
gone through this process very deliberately and patiently and slowly 
and reached a point where we believe subpoenaing this information is 
the only way to get the facts before the American people.
  I am hoping that this is successful; I hope that it becomes 
bipartisan; and I hope that we bring to this Court the type of 
reputation which it has enjoyed over the years.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Padilla). The Senator from Alabama.