Thomas has been under fire for failing to disclose substantial gifts from wealthy Republican benefactors.
A duo of Democratic U.S. senators is urging Attorney General Merrick Garland to help launch an investigation into alleged ethics violations by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
Thomas, the longest-serving member of the court and part of its conservative majority, has been under fire for an extended period over allegations that include failing to disclose a number of expensive gifts given to him by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and never paying taxes on a more than $267,000 forgiven loan from another wealthy business owner.
On Tuesday, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden announced in a news release that they had sent Garland a letter requesting that he appoint a special counsel to investigate the alleged violations of Thomas. Previous investigations of Thomas have been headed by Whitehouse and Wyden as chairs of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts and the Senate Finance Committee, respectively.
“We do not make this request lightly”, Whitehouse and Wyden write in the letter, which was sent on July 3.
