A new report has just been dropped by the Judicial Conference of the United States (JCUS) — the government agency responsible for governing the federal courts in the United States, including the US Supreme Court — which seems to possibly suggest that the governing body could be conducting what would certainly be a very rare investigation into highly controversial Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
The report was published to the public at the behest of the anti-corruption watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center (CLC) after they issued an update on their recent request that the JCUS publish its Report of the Proceedings from its September 2023 meeting. CLC argued in its request that information regarding the JCUS’ efforts to have Justice Thomas referred to the United States Department of Justice for his multiple, alleged violations of the Supreme Court’s financial disclosure laws is of “public interest.”
The JSUC report was vague, at best, only confirming that there was an “ongoing review of public written allegations of errors or omissions in a filer’s financial disclosure reports.” However, the CLC feels that this is a significant and crucial update in their quest to hold SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas accountable.
The CLC said in response to the newly released report:
While this step may not seem like a cause for celebration, the fact that the Judicial Conference even provided such an update in its Report of the Proceedings is highly unusual. The last time the Judicial Conference received letters regarding Justice Thomas’ apparent willful violations of [the Ethics in Government Act] for failing to disclose private plane travel, back in 2011, the Judicial Conference completely ignored them.“
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Even some elected officials took notice of the JSUC report, with Rhode Island Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) with an excerpt of the newly released report that pointedly mentions their “ongoing review.” While the individual at the center of this “review” is only identified as an “unnamed filer, the consensus is that this individual is Clarence Thomas.
Just published by the committee of the Judicial Conference charged with enforcing ethics laws at the Supreme Court: pic.twitter.com/Izy6R0Rr2p
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) January 17, 2024
The JSUC is unable to impeach federal judges or remove them from the bench, despite their job of regulating judicial ethics. However, they do have the power to refer judges to the Department of Justice for investigation at their discretion, where they can then be subject to potential civil penalties.
Justice Thomas has earned this scrutiny after multiple reports surfaced in recent months, alleging that the Supreme Court judge has regularly accepted inappropriate gifts from wealthy benefactors for many years while failing to properly disclose them according to rules and regulations — made worse by the fact that many of these gifts came from individuals who had cases and business that went before the court Thomas sits on, while Thomas never once recused himself from a single case, despite the clear conflict.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
