Senate judiciary chair responds to additional revelations regarding Clarence Thomas' friendship with Harlan Crow
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After the recent news regarding Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his friendship with a GOP megadonor, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to act.
Yesterday (May 7), Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin spoke with CNN about the panel’s scrutinization of ethics concerns surrounding Thomas. On the outlet’s “State of the Union,” the Illinois Democrat said, “The bottom line is this: Everything is on the table. Day after day, week after week, more and more disclosures about Justice Thomas – we cannot ignore them. The thing we’re going to do first, obviously, is to gather the evidence, the information that we need to draw our conclusions. I’m not ruling out anything.”
During the latest update, ProPublica, a nonprofit newsroom, uncovered Thomas and Harlan Crow’s friendship extended beyond luxury trips. The platform discovered documents that alleged Crow paid for the judge’s grand-nephew’s education. Thomas became the legal guardian of Mark Martin, his nephew, when he was six.
In 2008, as a teenager, Martin was enrolled in a private academy whose tuition was over $6,000 a month. The newsroom retrieved a bank statement that disclosed in July 2009, Crow’s company paid for Martin’s tuition. The outlet chatted with Christopher Grimwood, a former administrator at the academy, who shared information from supposed conversations with Crow. He said the Dallas, Texas businessman paid Martin’s entire education at that private school and Randolph-Macon Academy.
Last month, Thomas opened up about his friendship with Crow after the public questioned his conduct. The 74-year-old judge claimed trips together with their wives were vacations among friends. He revealed others advised him the luxury experiences didn’t require disclosing.
However, Durbin told CNN the recent allegations “just embarrasses me.” He called on Chief Justice John Roberts to impose a code of conduct on the court. “This is the Roberts’ court, and history is going to judge him by the decision he makes on this. He has the power to make the difference,” Durbin said.
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