July, 07 2011, 01:38pm EDT
Watchdog Group Files FOIA Request for Details of Justice Thomas' Jet and Yacht Travel
Urges American Bar Association to join in calls for ethical accountability at high court
WASHINGTON
Common Cause moved on two new fronts Thursday to address ethics questions surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court:
- In a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the U.S. Marshals Service, the non partisan government watchdog group formally asked for copies of government records relating to travel by Justice Clarence Thomas. The request is aimed at determining whether Justice Thomas traveled on a plane owned by developer and political activist Harlan Crow on seven occasions over the past four years, and if so, whether those trips were properly disclosed. The New York Times has raised questions about three of the trips, while a Common Cause review of flight records found four additional trips made by Crow's jet that followed a similar pattern of travel from Dallas to Washington and on to Savannah, Ga., Thomas' hometown. Federal law requires all federal officials to disclose who pays for their travel.
- In a letter to the president of the American Bar Association, Common Cause urged the nation's largest group of lawyers to join in efforts to persuade the Court to publicly embrace the code of conduct that all other federal judges must follow and to enforce tough ethical standards on its members.
"Americans are concerned, and rightfully so, over mounting evidence that our highest court is operating outside the ethical standards that apply to other federal judges," said Common Cause President Bob Edgar. "We are seeking records from the Marshals Service, which typically provides security for justices traveling outside Washington, to clarify whether Justice Thomas has violated federal ethics laws. We hope to engage the legal community in a larger effort to bring ethical accountability to the full court."
The New York Times last month raised questions about ties between Crow and Thomas and his wife, Ginni. Crow has given Thomas an historic Bible, valued at $19,000, and according to a report published in Politico donated $500,000 to establish a political organization, Liberty Central, that initially was run by Ginni Thomas. Crow also reportedly spent $174,000 to add a wing named for Justice Thomas to a library in Savannah and put down $1.5 million to purchase an abandoned cannery where Thomas' mother once worked in Pin Point Ga. In addition, the Times reported that Crow is financing redevelopment of the cannery building into a museum.
The Times also raised questions about whether Thomas has travelled on Crow's corporate jet and yacht without reporting it on financial disclosure forms. Federal flight records indicate that a Crow-owned jet flew in April 2008 from Dallas to Washington DC and after a brief stop went on to Savannah, where Crow's yacht was docked. During that same week, an item appeared in a South Carolina publication noting Thomas' arrival aboard Crow's yacht in Charleston, SC, a few hours north of Savannah. Thomas reported no gifts or travel reimbursements in that time period.
The Times noted two other instances in which Justice Thomas's travels corresponded to flights of a Crow-owned plane. Justice Thomas was in Savannah in early 2010 for the dedication of a building in his honor. On the day of that event, Crow's plane flew from Washington to Savannah and returned to Washington the next day. Justice Thomas reported in his financial disclosure that his travel had been paid for by the Savannah College of Art and Design, which owned the building.
In a 2009 financial disclosure, Justice Thomas reported that Southern Methodist University in Dallas had paid for him to travel to its campus for a speech on Sept. 30. Flight records show that Crow's plane flew from Washington to Dallas that day.
In reviewing flight records, Common Cause discovered four additional trips in which a Crow-owned plane traveled from Dallas to Washington and after a brief stop went on to Savannah. In three of those trips, the plane then reversed its route to return to Dallas, again stopping briefly at Dulles International Airport in the Washington suburbs. On one trip, the plane returned straight to Dallas.
Federal law requires that Thomas, like all federal officials, disclose who pays for his travel; intentional misreporting is a violation of both the Ethics in Government Act (5 USC 104) and 28 USC 1001.
"We don't know if Justice Thomas was travelling on Mr. Crow's plane, because neither Justice Thomas nor Mr. Crow will confirm or deny the trips. That's why we're requesting the travel records" Edgar said. "But given the relationship between Justice Thomas and Mr. Crow, it's not a stretch that he would be. And if that is the case, he was required by law to disclose it at the time, and should amend his disclosures now, just as he did with his wife's income."
Following publication of the Times' story on June 18, Common Cause wrote letters to both Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts. The letters asked if Thomas traveled on Crow's jet and yacht, and if so, who paid for it, and whether the Supreme Court follows ethical standards that apply to every other federal judge. Neither Thomas nor Roberts responded.
"Americans are entitled to answers to these questions, which have cast a cloud over the highest court in the land," Edgar said. "The Marshals Service records we're seeking with this Freedom of Information Act request can put to rest questions about Justice Thomas' adherence to federal ethics laws."
Edgar noted that Justice Thomas has acknowledged failing to properly disclose his wife's sources of income over a 21-year span, a violation of the Ethics in Government Act.
"Now, there's evidence that the justice also may have failed to report, or misreported, travel paid for by a wealthy friend," Edgar said. "This is a serious matter. The Ethics in Government Act provides both civil and criminal penalties for willfully falsifying or failing to report required information on annual financial disclosures. The reports are the only way lawyers, litigants and the public can check to be sure that the justices and lower court judges are not taking part in cases in which they may have a conflict of interest."
Click here to view the FOIA request.
Click here to view Common Cause's letter to American Bar Association President Stephen N. Zack.
Common Cause is a nonpartisan, grassroots organization dedicated to upholding the core values of American democracy. We work to create open, honest, and accountable government that serves the public interest; promote equal rights, opportunity, and representation for all; and empower all people to make their voices heard in the political process.
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Supreme Court Urged to 'Rule Quickly' After Trump Immunity Arguments
"It'd be a travesty for justices to delay matters further," said one legal expert.
Apr 25, 2024
After about three hours of oral arguments Thursday on former President Donald Trump's immunity claims, legal experts and democracy defenders urged the U.S. Supreme Court to rule swiftly, with just over six months until the November election.
Trump—the presumptive Republican candidate to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden, despite his 88 felony charges in four ongoing criminal cases—is arguing that presidential immunity should protect him from federal charges for trying to overturn his 2020 loss to Biden, which culminated in the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Justices across the ideological spectrum didn't seem inclined to support Trump's broad immunity claims—which critics have said "reflect a misreading of constitutional text and history as well as this court's precedent." However, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) shared examples of what it would mean if they did.
"Trump could sell pardons, ambassadorships, and other official benefits to his wealthy donors, members of his clubs, or cronies who helped him commit other crimes," CREW warned. "Trump could sell nuclear codes and government secrets to help pay back crippling debts."
"But this isn't just about what Donald Trump could do. It's really about how total immunity for the president would threaten our democratic system of checks and balances," the group continued. "The president could order the military to assassinate activists, political opponents, members of Congress, or even Supreme Court justices, so long as he claimed it related to some official act."
After warning that a president could also order the occupation or closure of the Capitol or high court to prevent actions against him, CREW concluded that "the Supreme Court never should have taken this appeal up in the first place. They should rule quickly and shut these ludicrous claims down for good."
The organization was far from alone in demanding a quick decision from the nation's highest court.
"In the name of accountability, the court must not delay its decision," the Brennan Center for Justice said Thursday evening. "The Supreme Court's time is up. It needs to let the prosecution move forward. The court decided Bush v. Gore in three days—it should act with similar alacrity in deciding Trump v. U.S."
In Bush v. Gore, the case that decided the 2000 election, the high court issued a related stay on December 9, heard oral arguments on December 11, and issued a final decision on December 12.
On Thursday, the arguments "got away from the central question: Is a former president immune from criminal prosecution if he tried to overthrow a presidential election, using private means and the power of his office to do so?" the Brennan Center noted. "The answer is simple: No."
"It is not an 'official act' to try to overthrow the peaceful transfer of power or the Constitution, even if you conspire with other government officials to do it or use the Oval Office phone," the center said. "Trump's attorney was pushing the court to come up with a sea change in the law. That's unnecessary and a delay tactic that will hurt the pursuit of justice in this case."
In a departure from previous claims, Trump's attorney, D. John Sauer, "appeared to agree with Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, that there are some allegations in the indictment that do not involve 'official acts' of the president," NBC Newsreported, noting questions from liberal Justice Elena Kagan and conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, a Trump appointee.
Barrett summarized various allegations from the indictment and in three cases—involving dishonest election claims, false allegations of fraud, and fake electors—Sauer conceded that Trump's alleged conduct sounded private, suggesting that a more narrow case against the ex-president that excluded any potential official acts could proceed.
Due to Trump attorney's concessions in Supreme Court oral argument, there's now a very clear path for DOJ's case to go forward.\n\nIt'd be a travesty for Justices to delay matters further.\n\nJustice Amy Coney Barrett got Trump attorney to concede core allegations are private acts.\u2b07\ufe0f— (@)
According to NBC:
Matthew Seligman, a lawyer and a fellow at the Constitutional Law Center at Stanford Law School who filed a brief backing prosecutors, said Sauer's concessions highlight that Trump is "not immune for the vast majority of the conduct alleged in the indictment."
Ultimately, he said, the case will go to trial "absent some external intervention—like Trump ordering [the Justice Department] to drop the charges" after having won the election.
At the same time, Sauer's backtracking might have little consequence from an electoral perspective. Further delay in a trial, which Sauer is close to achieving, is a form of victory in itself.
Slate's Mark Joseph Stern pointed out that when Barrett similarly questioned Michael Dreeben, the U.S. Department of Justice lawyer arguing the case for Smith, it seemed like they "were trying to work out some compromise wherein the trial court could distinguish between official and unofficial acts, then instruct the jury not to impose criminal liability on the former."
"It was fascinating to watch Barrett nodding along as Dreeben pitched a compromise that would largely preserve Smith's January 6 prosecution but limit what the jury could hear, or at least consider," Stern added. "That, though, would take months to suss out in the trial court. More delays!"
Stern and other experts signaled that the decision likely comes down to Barrett and Chief Justice John Roberts, with the three liberals seemingly supporting the prosecution of Trump and the other four conservatives suggesting it is unconstitutional.
People for the American Way president Svante Myrick said in a statement that "today's argument brought both good and bad news. It was chilling to hear Donald Trump's lawyer say that staging a military coup could be considered part of a president's official duties."
"Thankfully, the majority of the court, including conservative justices, did not seem to buy that very broad Trump argument that a former president is absolutely immune from prosecution under any circumstances," Myrick added. "On the other hand, it's not clear that there is a majority on this court that will quickly reject the immunity arguments and let the case go forward in time for a trial before the election. That's a huge concern."
Trump was not at the Supreme Court on Thursday; he was at his trial in New York, where he faces 34 counts for allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money payments to cover up sex scandals during the 2016 election cycle. The are two other cases: a federal one for mishandling classified material and another in Georgia for interfering with the last presidential contest.
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"We're going to keep organizing and taking direct action until Citi listens to us," he vowed.
Stop the Money Pipeline co-director Alec Connon said: "To have any chance of reigning in the climate crisis, we must stop investing in fossil fuel expansion. Yet, Citibank is pumping billions of dollars into new coal, oil, and gas projects."
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A Biden administration spokesperson once again brushed off calls for an independent investigation into how hundreds of Palestinians found in mass graves near Gaza hospitals died when asked Thursday about new reports that many of the victims were tortured, summarily executed—and in some cases, buried alive by Israeli invaders.
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Noting calls by Palestinian officials and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk for an independent probe into mass graves, the reporter said that "this administration repeatedly said that it asks... the Israeli government to investigate itself."
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Thursday's exchange followed a similar back-and-forth on Tuesday between Patel and Said Arikat, a journalist for the Jerusalem-based
Palestinian news outlet al-Quds who asked about the mass graves.
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