Conservative legal advocate Leonard Leo was subpoenaed by the Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday as part of an inquiry into a series of alleged shortcomings among Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee—which is probing the alleged undisclosed travel and gifts to the conservative Supreme Court justices—confirmed the subpoena was issued to Mr. Leo.
The Illinois Democrat said the subpoena was sent because Mr. Leo has so far refused to cooperate with the committee’s inquiry.
“Since July 2023, Leonard Leo has responded to the legitimate oversight requests of the Senate Judiciary Committee with a blanket refusal to cooperate,” he said. “His outright defiance left the Committee with no other choice but to move forward with compulsory process.”
The lawmaker added that Mr. Leo “has played a central role in the ethics crisis plaguing the Supreme Court and, unlike the other recipients of information requests in this matter, he has done nothing but stonewall the Committee.”
Supreme Court Unveils Formal Code of Conduct
At the time the reports came to light, Justice Thomas said he has “always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines” and did not previously disclose the hospitality from his close personal friend because he was advised early on that such activity “did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.”He also pledged to disclose all necessary information going forward.
Meanwhile, Justice Alito also defended his actions by claiming it was not standard practice to disclose such trips in annual financial statements. However, he also vowed to bolster public transparency going forward.
Subpoena ‘Unlawful, Politically Motivated’
Mr. Leo is a conservative legal activist and longtime chairman of the Federalist Society, which according to its official website, is an “American conservative and libertarian legal organization that advocates for a textualist and originalist interpretation of the U.S. Constitution.”He told the Washington Post on Thursday that he will not comply with the subpoena from the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I am not capitulating to his lawless support of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and the left’s dark money effort to silence and cancel political opposition,” he said of Mr. Durbin.
Meanwhile, his attorney called the subpoena “unlawful and politically motivated.”
Republicans have long suggested that Democrats are probing the Supreme Court Justices due to the court’s six-member conservative-leaning majority, which has passed down an array of decisions they find objectionable in recent years.
Three of the justices—Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Amy Coney Barrett— were appointed by former President Donald Trump.
“The document issued today is invalid,” the spokesperson said.
