asked a pair of Senate Democrats Department of Justice Investigate a Supreme Court judge in a criminal case Clarence Thomas a gift of travel and a luxury car loan from rich donor friends.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, who chairs the Judiciary subcommittee on federal courts, DR.I. and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter Last week, Attorney General Merrick asked Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate whether Thomas violated federal ethics and tax laws when he failed to declare as income more than $267,000 in an allegedly forgiven loan in 2008.
“We do not make this request lightly,” the senators wrote. “The evidence thus far clearly shows that Justice Thomas violated multiple willful federal ethics and perjury laws and raises significant questions about whether he and his wealthy benefactors are complying with their federal tax obligations.”
Spokesmen for the Supreme Court and the Justice Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday night.
The Finance Committee of the Senate informed about this last year Thomas’ friend Anthony reviewed Walters’ papers and came to a conclusion Thomas reported that Welters failed to repay the principal or interest on a 1999 loan he made to Thomas and his wife for a luxury motor coach. Senators said at the time that Thomas made only interest payments on the loan before he stopped making payments.
Thomas’ attorney, Elliot S. Berke, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday night. He he claimed in the letter This year, he told the Finance Committee that Thomas “made regular payments to Mr. Welters until the terms of the contract were fully satisfied.”
In Garland’s letter, the two senators also cited a private yacht and free travel on a plane, among other gifts from billionaire Harlan Crow and other wealthy philanthropists that Thomas said went unnoticed. financial disclosure forms. Gifts came first This was reported by ProPublica last year.
In a statement last month, Berke said the Judicial Conference had changed the provision allowing personal hospitality exemptions and that Thomas was “in full compliance with the new disclosure requirement.”
Thomas last month received a couple of visits In the 2019 annual financial disclosure report with Crow. In the same month, the Senate Judiciary Committee released the notes Crow presented to Thomas additional undisclosed visits.