Senate Judiciary Democrats plan to subpoena GOP donor Harlan Crow in SCOTUS ethics probe

The Democratic-led Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to issue subpoenas for wealthy Republican donors Harlan Crow and Robin Arkley II as well as conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo, as part of the committee's Supreme Court ethics investigation.

The three men are "critical" to the probe and so far "have either refused to comply or offered to produce certain limited information that fell well short of what the Committee needs and to which it is entitled," the committee said Monday.

The probe comes after reports earlier this year showed that Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife went on undisclosed luxury vacations with Crow, who also paid for Thomas' great grandnephew's education. Thomas said he was not required to report the vacations and more than 100 of his former clerks signed a letter defending his integrity.

The announcement targeting Leo came the same day that House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., announced plans to investigate Washington, D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb's probe of Leo's alleged financial wrongdoings. The Republicans said that Schwalb's investigation was politically motivated and based on unsubstantiated speculations from Politico. 

Senate Democrats pointed to Politico as a reason for issuing a subpoena of Leo, stating: "Politico has revealed that in 2009, Crow provided an initial $500,000 in funding to Ginni Thomas’s non-profit group, which Leonard Leo directed, that advocated on issues before the Court."

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