Senate could soon approve subpoenas targeting billionaires in SCOTUS 'ethical crisis': report

As the the United States Supreme Court faces an "ethical crisis" following ProPublica's report earlier this year exposing Justice Clarence Thomas' history of receiving lavish gifts from billionaires, Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats, according to a CNN report, announced Monday they will soon vote to authorize subpoenas in their ongoing probe of the court.

Per CNN, this comes as "four justices – Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan and Amy Coney Barrett" over the last few months "have expressed various forms of support for some kind of ethics reform at the high court, although no announcement has been made."

Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) said, "The Supreme Court is in an ethical crisis of its own making," CNN notes, adding that the "subpoenas would target Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo and Robin Arkley II, who have all been linked to Thomas and others in recent news stories."

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The news outlet reports the Democratic senator added "that the three had declined to fully engage with the committee on a voluntary basis during its inquiry," saying "Due to Crow, Leo and Arkley's intransigence, the Committee is now forced to seek compulsory process to obtain the information they hold."

CNN notes:

The latest allegation against Thomas occurred last week after The New York Times reported that he failed to repay a 'significant' portion of a $267,230 loan from a friend that allowed him to by a luxury motorcoach in 1999, according to a memo issued by Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee. Hours after the report appeared, a lawyer for Thomas disputed the findings arguing that the loan had never been forgiven. 'The Thomases made all payments,' the lawyer, Elliot S. Berke, said in a statement to CNN.

A Democratic aide told the news outlet the committee "is likely to vote on the subpoenas on November 9."

READ MORE: Ex-judge: Clarence Thomas RV loan another example of justice 'doing an end run' around ethics rules

CNN's full report is available at this link.