Senate Republicans say a Judiciary Committee probe into Supreme Court ethics cannot focus solely on conservative judicial activists.
Committee Chair Dick Durbin, D-Ill., has sought to authorize subpoenas for conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
Republicans have proposed more than 150 additional subpoenas to broaden an investigation they say is one-sided against conservative justices on the high court, the Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.
The Examiner obtained copies of amendments that GOP members want added to the proposal to subpoena Leo and Crow.
“If the Democrats insist on going down this road of partisan subpoenas, it’s only fair for Republicans to seek subpoenas on friends and allies of Democrat-appointed Justices,” said attorney Mark Paoletta, a friend of Justice Clarence Thomas, the Examiner reported.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., previously proposed an amendment that demanded subpoenas for Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s staff and book publisher.
“What we learned was that over the years, her staff has pressured public institutions to buy her books,” Blackburn said before the vote to subpoena Crow and Leo fell apart on Nov. 9, saying Democrats were engaging in an “assault on the legitimacy of the Supreme Court.”
Other Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have pushed to subpoena organizations and names of wealthy elites who previously offered generous travel gifts to two former Democrat-nominated justices on the high court, including retired Justice Stephen Breyer and the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., proposed a subpoena of David Rubenstein, a private equity tycoon who, according to Breyer’s 2013 disclosure, paid for his airfare to the island of Nantucket.
Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., has proposed subpoenas related to the Pritzker family’s financial contributions for many of the justices’ trips from 2004 to 2018.
Crow has had ties to Thomas for decades, paying for nearly annual vacations, purchasing from Thomas and others the Georgia home in which the justice’s mother still lives, and helping pay for the private schooling for a relative.
Leo worked with Trump to nominate conservative judges.
Durbin abruptly adjourned the Nov. 9 meeting after Republicans on the committee made clear they would call for subpoena votes on a raft of Democrat officials and others.
Durbin canceled a Nov. 16 meeting before the Thanksgiving holiday with no clear indication of when the next vote would be called, the Examiner reported.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., last month warned Democrats regarding their plans to issue subpoenas to Crow, Leo, and mortgage company owner Robin Arkley II.
“What he’s [Durbin] targeting here are private citizens with no legislative purpose. I think it’s entirely and absolutely inappropriate,” McConnell said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Charlie McCarthy | editorial.mccarthy@newsmax.com
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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