US Senate invites Chief Justice John Roberts to testify before Congress amid Thomas revelations

By Betul Yuruk

NEW YORK (AA) - US Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard Durbin asked Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts on Thursday to testify before Congress next month about the Court's ethical standards after a report said that Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips for more than two decades.

''I invite you, or another Justice whom you designate, to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 2,'' Durbin said in a letter sent to Roberts.

''There has been a steady stream of revelations regarding Justices falling short of the ethical standards expected of other federal judges and, indeed, of public servants generally,'' the letter said.

''The time has come for a new public conversation on ways to restore confidence in the Court’s ethical standards,'' it added.

Asked whether Durbin planned a subpoena for the chief justice if he disagrees to appear voluntarily, he told reporters that he was hopeful Roberts would agree.

''There’s been no discussion of subpoenas for anyone at this point,'' he said.

The call came after ProPublica, an investigative journalism organization, published a report which said that Thomas accepted luxury trips from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow for decades.

Earlier, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee had sent a letter to Chief Justice Roberts demanding that he investigate reports that Justice Thomas accepted luxury trips.

ProPublica's investigation revealed that Thomas and his wife, Virginia, took luxury trips which were subsidized by Crow, a conservative businessman, including on his mega yacht and stayed at his lavish properties.

Thomas defended himself, calling Crow and his wife, Kathy, his family's "dearest friends.''

"As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them," he said. "Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.''

Reacting to Durbin's letter, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he would support Roberts' decision ''not to come if that’s what he wanted to do.''

''I would not recommend that the chief accept his invitation because it would be a circus,'' said Senator John Cornyn of Texas.