McConnell decries subpoenas of Thomas and Alito associates as ‘totally inappropriate’

Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) condemned the subpoenaing of associates of Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito by the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced this week that the committee would be subpoenaing two conservative billionaires and one conservative activist who were close to Thomas and Alito. McConnell objected to the move, saying the two figures were private citizens.

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“What he’s targeting here is private citizens with no legislative purpose,” McConnell told reporters on Tuesday when asked about the move. “I think it’s completely and totally inappropriate.”

AP

Durbin subpoenaed Harlan Crow, a longtime friend of Thomas who is at the heart of reports from ProPublica that show transactions to Thomas and his family, including tuition for Thomas’s grandnephew. The other two associates include Robin Arkley and Leonard Leo, who allegedly helped pay for a fishing trip Alito took in 2008. Thomas and Alito have denied breaking any ethics rules.

“In order to adequately address this crisis, it is imperative that we understand the full extent of how people with interests before the Court are able to use undisclosed gifts to gain private access to the justices,” Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) said in a Monday evening statement.

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Conservatives have rejected the investigation, led by Senate Democrats, as politically motivated and argue Congress has no constitutional basis for interfering in the affairs of the judicial branch. Thomas and Alito insist they did not run afoul of reporting guidelines. Leo responded to the subpoena against him with outrage.

“I will not bow to the vile and disgusting liberal McCarthyism, that seeks to destroy the Supreme Court simply because it follows the Constitution rather than their political agenda,” Leo, the board chairman of the influential conservative Federalist Society, said in a statement.