Deceptions by Supreme Court Justices Warrant a stringent, enforcable Code of Ethics

“Justice Thomas has betrayed a fundamental duty of high office: the duty of transparency. This disgraceful lawbreaking is precisely the sort of thing Congress has charged the attorney general with responsibility for addressing. It would be an absolute dereliction of duty if the Department of Justice were to fail to investigate these omissions.” -- The Project On Government Oversight

- Marc H. Morial, President and CEO National Urban League

There can be no question that Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch engaged in willful deceit of the American people when they omitted key details from financial disclosures.

Congress must not only act immediately to implement bipartisan legislation that would require the Supreme Court to implement a code of conduct but also make it clear that transgressions such as these will not be tolerated.

The head of a major law firm with dozens of cases before the Court purchased a $1.8 million property partially owned by Gorsuch. Gorsuch did not disclose the name of the purchaser.

A politically-active billionaire, who also had business before the Court, lavished Thomas over 20 years with cruises on his yacht, excursions on his private jet, and vacations at his private resort. Thomas disclosed none of the gifts. Nor did Thomas disclose his sale of three properties to the billionaire, including the home where his mother still lives, rent-free, or the tens of thousands of dollars the billionaire spent on improvements to the home.

Gorsuch has offered no public explanation for his deception. Thomas’ defense was both feeble and untruthful. Not only did Thomas falsely claim he had no obligation to report gifts from individuals “who did not have business before the Court,” the billionaire did, in fact, have business before the Court.