(FixThisNation.com) – On Sunday, Senator Cruz (R-TX) claimed that the criticisms faced by SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas over his financial disclosures is a “political smear job.” Many lawmakers have been pushing for a review of the court’s ethics standards following the revelations about Thomas.
Cruz during an interview on Fox News’s “Sunday Morning Futures” argued that they are not looking at any of the other justices and that this is a “political smear job directed at Clarence Thomas because he is an extraordinary constitutionalist.” The Senator further claimed that the Democrats are putting all this scrutiny on Thomas because he is African-American and as such he should not be “a conservative.”
ProPublica in recent reports found that Thomas has for over two decades accepted lavish gifts in the form of luxury vacations from Texas billionaire Harlan Crow. It was also disclosed that Thomas had made a real estate deal with Crow, who is a Republican mega donor, which he also failed to note in his financial disclosures. Thomas has claimed that he had been advised that he did not need to disclose the trips.
Crow claims that the attack on Thomas is politically motivated. However, the recent reports have led to many lawmakers debating whether there needs to be a strict set of ethics standards that justices will need to follow. Justices currently serve for life, which is why lawmakers are discussing options for potential reforms to the nation’s highest court.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Durbin (D-Illinois) called for Chief Justice John Roberts to appear before Congress over this matter, while other Democratic lawmakers have called for Thomas’s resignation.
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