Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee Dick Durbin (D-IL) has invited Chief Justice John Roberts of the Supreme Court to speak at a hearing on judicial ethics on May 2. Tuesday, Roberts expressed his lack of interest.
A court representative made public a letter from Roberts to Durbin:
I regret that I cannot accept your invitation.
As one might assume, the Chief Justice of the United States rarely testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee due to separation of powers concerns and the significance of maintaining judicial independence.
Breaking: #SCOTUS Chief Justice Roberts declines Senator Durbin’s invitation to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee pic.twitter.com/xHQ7CInuwq
— Shannon Bream (@ShannonBream) April 25, 2023
Roberts appeared to be attempting to make a point by including a Statement of Ethics Principles and Practices with the letter and stating, “All of the current Supreme Court members subscribe.”
Durbin asked the Chief Justice to testify after it was reported that Justice Clarence Thomas had taken vacations with his longstanding friend and GOP supporter Harlan Crow and failed to disclose numerous real estate transactions in 2014 on his financial disclosures. Thomas believed he was exempt from reporting the trades because he lost money on them, but he is now reportedly working on filing updates. In a statement, he claimed that he did not document the vacations because he was not required to do so under the then-applicable ethical guidelines.
Democracies are demonstrating:
Approximately two dozen Democratic members of Congress, led by Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Georgia Representative Hank Johnson, have requested that Chief Justice John Roberts initiate an investigation into Thomas. A referral to the US attorney general for probable violations of the 1978 Ethics in Government Act is also requested.
“There is at least reasonable cause to believe that Justice Thomas intentionally disregarded the disclosure requirement to report the sale of his interest in the Savannah properties in an attempt to hide the extent of his financial relationship with Crow,” Whitehouse and Johnson’s joint statement read.
In response to these allegations, Durbin urged Roberts in a letter earlier this month to “immediately launch” an investigation and “take all necessary steps to prevent further misconduct.” “If the court does not resolve this issue on its own, the committee will consider legislation to resolve it,” he threatened.
Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee urged Roberts to skip the hearing last week after Democrats were accused of trying to humiliate Thomas. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) advised, “I would not recommend that the chief accept his invitation because it will be a circus.”
Good. Three separate and equal branches of government. Maybe @SenateDems should read the Constitution.
— Gabby25 (@Gabby2Angels) April 25, 2023
Roberts made the correct decision in this instance, and not just because of the separation of powers. If he were to attend, the hearing would become blatantly politicized. He and the other conservative justices would have been targeted by Democrats, who are still incensed that Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Regardless, RedState’s Sister Toldjah stated that the allegations against Clarence Thomas appear to be without merit, adding:
Since the moment he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991, Democrats have been attempting to silence Clarence Thomas, with then-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Joe Biden (D-Del.) heading the way in perpetuating the ugly, baseless smear campaigns against him.
The spring of 2024 has arrived, and nothing has changed…
Durbin and others are harassing the court to obtain political advantage and influence future left-leaning rulings. The response of Chief Justice Roberts was proper.
As we reported in March, “Thomas, who should be the left’s hero based on his pigmentation and level of success- alone- has faced nothing but violent and psychopathic resistance from the Marxist left.”
And again, two groups of dishonest anti-American activists posing as lawyers and watchdogs are launching attacks against his efforts to serve the nation in his position of authority.
The truth is the left has never accepted American independence or the emancipating of free citizens from an authoritarian style of Government and they have never stopped pushing for more control over American liberty.
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
