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."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
5 critical cartoons about the proposed Russia-Ukraine peace dealCartoons Artists take on talking turkey, Putin's puppet, and more
-
Could Trump run for a third term?The Explainer Constitutional amendment limits US presidents to two terms, but Trump diehards claim there is a loophole
-
Political cartoons for November 28Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include economic diagnosis, climate distractions, and more
-
Trump’s Ukraine peace talks advance amid leaked callSpeed Read Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff is set to visit Russia next week
-
Memo signals Trump review of 233k refugeesSpeed Read The memo also ordered all green card applications for the refugees to be halted
-
Pentagon targets Kelly over ‘illegal orders’ videoSpeed Read The Pentagon threatened to recall Kelly to active duty
-
Judge tosses Trump DOJ cases against Comey, JamesSpeed Read Both cases could potentially be brought again
-
US, Kyiv report progress on shifting Ukraine peace planSpeed Read The deal ‘must fully uphold Ukraine’s sovereignty,’ the countries said
-
Comey grand jury never saw final indictmentSpeed Read This ‘drove home just how slapdash’ the case is, said The New York Times
-
Summers out at Harvard, OpenAI amid Epstein furorSpeed Read Summers was part of a group being investigated by Harvard for Epstein ties
-
The ‘Kavanaugh stop’Feature Activists say a Supreme Court ruling has given federal agents a green light to racially profile Latinos
