Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, asked Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito about an interview he gave to The Wall Street Journal last year in which the justice questioned whether Congress had the authority to impose ethics rules on the Supreme Court. .
Into letter Speaking publicly on Friday, Whitehouse, D.R.I., accused the conservative justice of “giving an improper opinion on a question that may come before the Court” amid an ethical dilemma over donors funding undisclosed gifts to Supreme Court justices. newspaper interview last year.
according to Wall Street Journal interview Alito, published on July 28, argued that Congress does not have the power to regulate the high court.
“No provision in the Constitution gives them the power to regulate the Supreme Court — period,” Alito told the publication at the time.
Alito’s interview appeared weeks after the same publication published the interpretation of justice denying a ProPublica report He did not disclose that he went fishing in Alaska with the Republican billionaire.
Whitehouse noted that the interview was conducted by David B. Rivkin, an attorney representing Leonard Leon, who coordinated Alito’s 2008 visit with GOP donor Robin Arkley II, according to a ProPublica report.
Whitehouse argued that Alito’s claims in the interview were made “to benefit you as the recipient of the undisclosed gifts that are the subject of our investigation.”
He later accused Alito of participating in the interview “at the behest” of Rivkin, who was engaged in challenging the panel’s investigative efforts.
“It appears from the outside that the lawyer used the interview to advance an argument that he and several of his colleagues were making to support their legal case against our investigation,” Whitehouse said. “The interview seemed both requested and timed to take effect in the ongoing dispute.”
Rivkin and a spokeswoman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday evening.
ProPublica also published an article last April details Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ lavish trips funded by GOP donor Harlan Crow.
Whitehouse noted that the interview was released shortly after the Senate Judiciary Committee Proposed Supreme Court ethics bill, will establish new disclosure rules for gifts and travel.
Whitehouse echoed similar sentiments Ethics complaint in September 2023 In an interview with the WSJ, Alito urged Chief Justice John Roberts to act.
The Supreme Court later accepted a new code of conduct however, persistent criticism of its implementation continues.
Whitehouse’s correspondence follows Alito’s last month refused to give up On January 6, 2021, from a pair of cases involving the Capitol riots, after he was called to Report from the New York Times that a inverted American flag It was displayed in front of his house in mid-January 2021.