Senate Democrats Drop Supreme Court Ethics ‘Witch Hunt’ After Republican Pressure

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats dropped a scheduled vote on Thursday to subpoena two major conservatives close to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito after significant pressure from Republicans.

The Democrat subpoenas would have targeted Leonard Leo — the co-chairman of the powerful Federalist Society — and Republican donor Harlan Crow. Democrats sought to figure out if certain individuals and groups gave undisclosed gifts to gain access to the justices.

Leo was not accused of doing anything improper.

Committee Republicans sought to combat the partisan subpoenas with dozens of amendments on issues, including border security, social media use, and liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“You’re going to have a complete s**tshow, but if that’s what you want, that’s what you’re gonna get,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), a former committee chair, said during the Thursday hearing.

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) said he would unveil subpoenas of Arabella Advisors, labeling it the “biggest dark money group in the country.”

The former Missouri attorney general said, “I think the Democrats will regret this, ultimately, because when Republicans retake the majority, I mean, the precedent is going to be here.”

“I’m not going to participate in a witch hunt against Justice Thomas,” Hawley continued.

Arabella Advisors is a for-profit consultancy group that manages leftist nonprofit groups that sponsor entities that do not have to disclose their donors. Political groups that do not disclose their donors are commonly referred to as “dark money groups.”

A New York Times analysis of the 2020 elections found that Democrats benefitted from $1.5 billion, while Republicans benefitted from $900 million in dark money.

CNN reported about the Democrats’ perceived need for ethics reform in the judicial branch:

The effort to authorize subpoenas represents a key point in Senate Democrats’ investigation into the nation’s highest court following a series of stories this year about transparency and ethics that raised questions about whether Thomas and other justices have flouted some rules. Democrats are pushing the justices to adopt a formal code of ethics similar to what lower-court judges are required to follow.

In the last several months four justices – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett – have appeared in public to express some form of support for ethics reform emanating from court itself, although no announcement has been made.

Despite the GOP backlash against the subpoenas, Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durin (D-IL) said he hopes that a vote will soon still happen:

I hope as soon as possible. I think, as I said, we’re ready to vote on those; Republicans are delaying it with amendments. In fairness, we’ve done the same thing. But, you know, I want to make sure that we’re together on major issues that they raised in the amendments.

Ken Klukowski, the senior legal contributor for Breitbart News, reported that Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats are essentially engaging in “reverse court-packing.”

Leo’s attorney’s letter also reportedly showed that Senate Democrats have no constitutional authority to punish private citizens or push legislation that would make Congress superior to the Supreme Court.

Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.