Federal courts won’t refer Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to attorney general over ethics

WASHINGTON —  The federal courts will not refer allegations that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas may have violated ethics laws to the Justice Department, the judiciary’s policymaking body said this week.

Thomas has agreed to follow updated requirements on reporting trips and gifts, including clearer guidelines on hospitality from friends, the U.S. Judicial Conference wrote Thursday to Democratic senators who had called for an investigation into undisclosed acceptance of luxury trips.

Thomas has previously said he wasn’t required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by wealthy benefactors like Republican megadonor Harlan Crow because they are close personal friends. The court didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The Supreme Court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023 in the face of sustained criticism, though the new code still lacks a means of enforcement.

It’s unclear whether the law allows the U.S. Judicial Conference to make a criminal referral regarding a Supreme Court justice, U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad wrote. He serves as secretary for the conference, which sets policy for the federal court system and is led by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.

A referral in this case isn’t necessary, Conrad said, because two Democratic senators called on Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel over the summer. No such appointment has been publicly made.

Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said that the judiciary appears to be “shirking its statutory duty to hold a Supreme Court justice accountable for ethics violations.”

Conrad also sent a similar response to a separate complaint from a conservative legal group, the Center for Renewing America, in regard to Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson’s reports on the source of her husband’s consulting income. Jackson has since amended her disclosures and also agreed to updated reporting requirements, Conrad wrote.

A spokesperson for the group, Rachel Cauley, said it was a “sad commentary” that the justice’s omission would not have been noticed and corrected without their complaint.

Whitehurst writes for the Associated Press.