@SenatorDurbin 's statement on reports of undisclosed gifts accepted by Justice Clarence Thomas.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Link to tweet

[angrychair]

1. We all know that as long as Republicans

Are in control that absolutely nothing will happen.

[spooky3]

2. But this is the Senate, which Dems control. Maybe there are actions they

Can take given their special role in the judiciary.

[former9thward]

18. The Senate has no control over the Supreme Court.

The confirm or reject Justice nominees. But they have no control over the court.

[spooky3]

19. No one claimed that. You may want to ask Dick Durbin what

He has in mind.

[ShazzieB]

25. The Senate Judiciary Committee doesn't have "control" over SCOTUS, but they have a lot of influence.

Sounds to me like the Committee is getting ready to launch an investigation which is going to be extremely embarrassing for Thomas and his wife, at the very least. They can't "fire" him, but they can sure as hell him under the microscope and lay his corruption out for all to see.

I am SO here for this!

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin will investigate Clarence Thomas

Link to tweet

[Cha]

5. And, his GD wife, too.

How did they find out about these Gifts that weren't Disclosed? TY.

I bet ginni is having a conniption.

[OMGWTF]

21. Slappy also forgot to include his traitor wife's income on his disclosure forms for 5 fking years.

It's well over $600K but as we all know, IOKIYAR.

[Cha]

23. Oh that's right.. I forgot about

that sneaky criminal asshole move by the scotus Asshole.

[former9thward]

17. There is nothing in that statement about an investigation.

[ShazzieB]

24. If this isn't the lead up to launching one, I'll est the keyboard I'm typing on.

This message is just the opening salvo. Watch and see!

[Sneederbunk]

4. Enough with the talk. Form a committee and investigate.

[ImNotGod]

7. yes, i am sick and tired of watching fascists in the country go unchecked, we need a strong Federal

government, not a paper tiger.

[republianmushroom]

6. agree

Like the posting

[Botany]

8. Citizens United has had awful impacts on America ..... I don't know if that covers paying off ....

.... Clarence Thomas but payments to Krysten Sinema are covered by C.U..

[dalton99a]

9. .

[erronis]

10. I'll get this news elsewhere; not from a post that only includes a link to musk's platform.

No offense to you, OP. This seems to be a norm for many posters. Links and no comments or context. Almost like they are posted as click-bait to twitter.

I know I'm still in a minority who don't mind their privacy shafted constantly.

[ShazzieB]

14. It's on the Senate Judiciary Committe's website.

https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/press/dem/releases/durbin-statement-on-reports-of-justice-clarence-thomas-acceptance-of-undisclosed-luxury-gifts-from-republican-megadonor

[erronis]

15. Thanks, ShazzieB. My point is please post the definitive links, as much as possible,

not some opinion piece already filtered through 10-20 news rehash sites.

It seems that many posters have gotten really sloppy - at best.

At worst, all they're doing is trying to get clicks on some site that they have an interest in.

[ShazzieB]

22. I agree.

It annoys me that the Committee didn't include the link in their tweet.

[erronis]

27. Thanks much. I didn't even see that it is the Committee that is doing the click-bait!

What I've heard from past pols is that "everyone uses twitter, so we need to also."

And yet they're apparently able to say that tiktok is an evil platform.

Politics and intelligence don't go together much.

Politics and money do.

[ShazzieB]

29. Tiktok has its own special set of issues.

I haven't heard anyone call Tiktok "evil," but there are security concerns about that particular platform that many are not comfortable with.

https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/the-fbi-has-a-warning-for-tiktok-users-why-it-says-you-should-be-extremely-concerned.html

Twitter has issues for sure, especially since Eloon took over, but it has a ompletely different set of issues from Tiktok.

[Red Mountain]

11. Who else has he accepted gifts from?

Or any of the rest of them?

Did he pay taxes on those gifts?

[Bev54]

12. So get it done and don't be wimping out letting republicans water it all down.

[ShazzieB]

20. I see no reason to assume Durbin is going to do that.

This is not just a personal statement. Durbin issued it in his capacity as Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and it's posted on the committee's website. I have a feeling this is just the opening salvo in what is going to be an investigation by the Senate Judiciary Committee into Thomas' corruption.

There are 11 Democrats on that committee, as follows:

Dick Durbin (D-IL)
Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)
Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI)
Amy Klobuchar (D-MN)
Chris Coons (D-DE)
Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)
Mazie Hirono (D-HI)
Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Alex Padilla (D-CA)
Jon Ossoff (D-GA)
Peter Welch (D-VT)

I would be extremely shocked if all of those people would go along with Durbin issuing this statement if they weren't planning to follow it up with some decisive action.

[LiberalFighter]

13. Did he declare it as income and pay taxes?

[Farmer-Rick]

16. Probably not

I couldn't find anything that says Gifts have to be declared as income. Winnings, like Oprah's free cars to audience members and lottery money must be declared, which confuses people.

But there are rules against federal employees accepting gifts of large amounts. We pay Clearance and all federal judges with our tax dollars. I would think they are federal employees. Let's stop paying them for awhile and see what happens.

[Red Mountain]

26. My experience....

is that current tax rates allow a gift of up to $17000 from another in 2023 without paying taxes.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gift.asp

What Is a Gift?

A gift is property, money, or assets that one person gives to another while receiving nothing or less than fair market value (FMV) in return. Under certain circumstances, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) collects a tax on gifts. Transfers of money or property that are given freely or exchanged for less than market value may be subject to the gift tax if the donor has exceeded the annual or lifetime gift exemption.



Sounds like he accepted a lot of gifts.

Or he gave them something in return.....but I'm sure there is lots of documentation regarding exactly which decisions the gifts paid for and what they cost.

[Farmer-Rick]

28. I'm not saying you are wrong

But isn't the gift tax payed by the giver and not the recipient?

I may just have gotten this all backwards because what I know about taxes you can fit on a flea's back.

This I got from your link: The gift tax is a federal tax levied on a taxpayer who gives money or property to someone else.

So Clarance wouldn't have to report it but the billionaire, if he's an American oligarch, has to report it. But maybe I missed a big something.

[Red Mountain]

30. Thanks for reading

hasn't been my problem to deal with. I made an assumption.

[JudyM]

31. ProPublica has done the country a huge solid. I donated to them today on the page reporting this

story. Here it is, if anyone else wants to kick in:
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

[DC77]

32. There's a lot of noise on this here thread

Please stop with the links and bad info. The facts are that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose gifts as required on annual financial disclosure forms set by the Ethics In Government Act of 1978. Per the form’s reference to “Judiciary Policy, Volume 2D, Ch. 3, § 330 Gifts and Reimbursements; § 360 Spouses and Dependent Children,” gifts over $415 must be disclosed. They clearly were not.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

33. Lawmakers Call for Investigation and Ethics Reforms in Response to ProPublica Report on C Thomas

There will be hearings on this betrayal. The SCOTUS is not above the law and it may necessary for Congress to force a true code of ethics on the SCOTUS

Link to tweet

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-harlan-crow-durbin-ethics-investigation?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=twitter

Influential Democratic lawmakers have called for immediate investigations and vowed to create stricter ethics rules following a ProPublica report that revealed Justice Clarence Thomas has, for decades, failed to disclose luxury trips he received from a real estate magnate and conservative megadonor.

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee — influential for its role in vetting and confirming Supreme Court nominees — said his panel is calling for an “enforceable code of conduct” for justices. “The ProPublica report is a call to action, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will act,” Durbin said......

On Thursday, a growing chorus of Democratic lawmakers said Thomas’ failure to disclose the luxury vacations is an example of why public trust in the Supreme Court is faltering.

Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen said in a statement that Americans’ confidence in the Supreme Court is “tanking because of this kind of conduct.”

“We need answers,” he said. “And the Court needs a code of ethics.”

Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said in a statement that the Supreme Court has lost its ethical compass, calling for Chief Justice John Roberts to open an investigation. “It’s no wonder that the American people are losing faith in the idea that they can get a fair shake before the nation’s highest court when they see a Supreme Court justice openly flouting basic disclosure rules in order to pal around with billionaires in secret,” he said.

This year, Whitehouse and others introduced a bill that would strengthen the Supreme Court’s disclosure and recusal rules, among other reforms. In his statement, the senator called for a hearing and vote on the bill.

“The Supreme Court urgently needs an enforceable system for holding justices accountable,” he said.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren said Americans deserve a judiciary that is “accountable to the rule of law, not wealthy Republican donors.” ProPublica’s reporting, she added, “is a stark reminder that judges should be held to the highest ethical standards and free from conflicts of interest.”