Senators seek special counsel for Clarence Thomas' gifts

What happened

Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said Tuesday they had asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to appoint a special counsel to investigate Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and benefactors who showered him with free luxury vacations, plane travel, evidently forgiven debts and other gifts.

Who said what

In a July 3 letter to Garland, Wyden and Whitehouse called for a criminal investigation into the "strong possibility of multiple federal ethics, tax and false statement violations" by the conservative justice. "We do not make this request lightly," they wrote. "The evidence assembled thus far plainly suggests that Justice Thomas has committed numerous willful violations" of federal laws. Two days before the senators sent their letter, CNBC said, Thomas, in a "pivotal court ruling, questioned whether the DOJ has the power to even appoint a special counsel."

What next?

The Justice Department has the legal authority to appoint a special counsel to investigate Thomas, but "inevitably it would be seen as political retribution for rulings the justices made that they don't like," Jeremy Fogel, the director of the Berkeley Judicial Institute, said to The Washington Post. "I just don't know how you get out of that box."

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