strange way, relying on the gifts of strangers like wealthy strangers, wealthy white strangers, like harlan crow. there is no doubt they are friends from clarence's perspective, justice thomas's perspective, and also, apparently, according to mr. crow, from his perspective. but there is the appearance problem. there's no obvious quid pro quo's here. clearance hasn't done what apparently harlan crow wants him to do, but he has been in the company of lots of people who are friends of harlan crow's, who have business before the court. and that is really the reason that some people now are beginning to say, we have to tighten the standards of conflict of interest. not because of, i'm sorry. >> what was the extent of that relationship? the financial relationship between harlan crow and justice thomas, such an open secret and it took the reporting of propublica to reveal the extent of that. >> i don't know how open a secret it was. they were seen together a lot. he flies on crow's plane, sometimes even to do some business, give a speech, or whatever it is. it is open, in that sense. but i think the wo

and, in the very next sentence,, harlan crow's high priced lawyer says.rns. >> yes, it is. it's the complete answer. it is the proof that the senate judiciary committee can write ethics rules for the supreme court, in legislation, that if passed by congress, and signed by the president, will become law. but the supreme court must abide by. harlan crow, is, of course, paying top dollar, very top dollar, for his lawyer, -- who is with an ultra high price washington law firm, harlan crow's lawyer is refusing to answer the judiciary committee's questions about 11 expenditures and gifts harlan crow has made to and on behalf of clarence thomas, that easily count to a minimum of half 1 million dollars from what we can see, and it could be millions of dollars depending on the dollar value assigned to private jet travel, which easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, at the rate that clarence thomas appears to have been flying on harlan crow's jets for many, many years now. and the total dollar meant pairs on how much you value the yacht trips that ar

it turns out justice thomas was receiving lavish gifts from a texas billionaire, harlan crow. harlan crow and his family made a lot in real eat state and other -- real estate and other investments. as recently as this last summer, he had been provided transportation for a supreme court justice, clarence thomas, and his family, and sadly the justice failed to disclose that gift as required by law. mr. president, the highest court in the nation must not have the lowest ethical standards. sadly, i'm afra id that is the case today. every federal judges in the united states of america is bound by a code of ethical conduct and a set of ethics rules and enforcement mechanisms. every single judge in america. except for the nine across the street in the supreme court. it was 11 years ago, in februart wrote chief justice roberts and urged him to address this problem. i urged him to have the supreme court adopt a binding code of conduct that applies to all justices, just like every other federal judge in america. he refused. the ethics problem, which was already swirling around the court

or i mean, harlan crow for example, took clarence thomas on several luxurious vacations over many yearsurchased the justices mothers home, where he is now her landlord as she lives rent free. he even paid for thomas's grandnephews private school tuition. but, there's our commonality here. both relationships and you have the same contours. crucially, leonard leo, head of the federal society -- oh there he is again. he's a common thread. he's pictured here, remember this painting of crow and thomas and the rest hanging out? he's second from the left in this painting. depicting one of thomas's many visits to crows upstate new york resort. and both stories involved ritzy, glamorous gifts from right-wing billionaires with an enormous obvious ideological and in some cases material interest before the court. it is obvious, apparent to everyone, that these relationships, trips such as these, are a form of soft lobbying. and anyone with any sense, you don't even have to be a lawyer, but as a supreme court justice should have, would understand. why are they taking me on this lavish trip to go fis

but this must be one hell of a friendship because on thursday we learned that, back 2014, harlan crow the house where thomas's elderly mother was living. that might give him influence. "no, clarence, you vote however your conscience dictates, but remember, i am your mother's landlord. oh, mom's power just went out. oh, now it's back on. seriously, vote however you want. oh, mommy's in the dark again. hope she can find the fridge! isn't that where she keeps her insulin?" not only did crow buy the housee to live there, made renovations, including a carport, a repaired roof, and a new fence and gates, and she lives rent free. say what you will, clarence thomas has won mother's day. "oh, chocolate covered strawberries again? that's nice. i hear mrs. thomas's son betrayed the justice system to get her a carport." now, crow claims there's nothing corrupt about this, saying, "my intention is to one day create a public museum at the thomas home. just a reminder, harlan crow has hitler's napkins and a statue of stalin in his garden, so building you a museum? not a huge compliment. now, technic

harlan crow does not call the. he cannot claim.hed a oversight and legislative hort to assess and address the ethical crisis facing the court. all options are on the table moving forward. senator sheldon joins us. you read the letter and it's not clear if it is audacity or arrogance or ignorance that fuels such words to be put in writing by the lawyers of harlan crow. do you have a theory? >> any one of those would suffice. i think the fact that any one of them could be true, and all three might be is pretty clearly demonstrated by the fact that in the last round of harlan crow's gifts to justice thomas, the question was referred to the judicial conference which then applied a law to make a determination. so what we're doing here as a congress is to look at how a body establishment by congress, the judicial conference, implements a law passed by congress, the ethics and government act, how you can find a separation of powers violation in congress doing that is a highly imaginative legal act. >> senator, what if any information has

it was it was harlan crow's lawyer i wrote to durbin right? so i was getting done right there. what really struck me about that letter was the suggestion that congress no legitimate purpose in investigating anything crow might or might not have given the justice thomas and my response, that is actually the most important textual check on the supreme in the constitution is congress's express power to impeach supreme court justices. like maybe we don't all agree that that the the stories that the revelations and the propublica reporting gives rise to an impeachable offense. but the notion that congress lacks the authority to decide that question right and to actually investigate whether individual justices have engaged in impeach liable conduct if is both like horrifying to me as a separation of powers person. but such like perfect of the moment we're in and as a civics textbook person, i think texas civics textbook, no, just civics textbooks. it's going to make a generic the part that is striking to me is that in the case congress has made the decision to begin articles of impea

gifts justice clarence thomas had been receive from texas billionaire and republican mega-donor harlan crow in the name of personal hospitality. so what did justice thomas and his 2022 financial disclosure contain? we're going to have to wait a little longer to find out because justice thomas has requested a 90-day extension. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> prosecutors with the department of

remember this photo realistic paintings defecting harlan crow and his friend, justice clarence thomasthe steepled fingers is leonard leo. mr. leo refused to answer questions about the fishing, trip but issued a statement based in pro public as reporting, based on the justices ethical lapses. we should almost wonder whether the recent rash of propublica stories questioning the integrity of only conservative supreme court justices is bait for reeling in more dark money from woke billionaires who want to damage the supreme court and remake it into one that will disregard the law by rubberstamp-ing the disordered and highly unpopular cultural preferences. and quote. that particular peculiar statement prompted this response from dahlia lithwick, a senior editor first flight, who writes about the hilarity of hearing dark money from woke billionaires from the guy who is connecting on woke billionaires to justice is for travel and influence. it's amazing the level of projection. and quote. what is left to do except to talk to her about this? senior editor for slate the host of the biggest pod

and it is about supreme court justice clarence thomas and his billionaire buddy harlan crow. get lost in investment research. introducing j.p. morgan personal advisors. hey david. connect with an advisor to create your personalized plan. let's find the right investments for your goals okay, great. j.p. morgan wealth management. ♪ ♪ ♪ [typing] ♪ you were made to act spontaneously. we were made to help plan accordingly. ♪ (wheezing) asthma isn't pretty. it's the moment when you realize that a good day... is about to become a bad one. but then, i remembered that the world is so much bigger than that, with trelegy. because one dose a day helps keep my asthma symptoms under control. and with 3 medicines in 1 inhaler, trelegy helps improve lung function so i can breathe easier for a full 24 hours. trelegy won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. trelegy contains a medicine that increases risk of hospitalizations and death from asthma problems when used alone. when this medicine is used with an inhaled corticosteroid, like in trelegy, there is not a significant

the new republic is reporting that it obtained a document that showed a harlan crow, billionaire mega supreme court donor to judge clarence donated -- from 2019 in 2020. one crow also steered any of the two dozen other donors to no labels. nbc news has not seen this information, and in response to questions by the new republic regarding these donations, crow said that he supports no labels because quote, our government should be about what is best for america. whale donors, as they call, harlan crow, and the fact that no labels does not voluntarily disclose its donors give americans some cause for cost? >> absolutely. no question around the. at the store, money has been a huge problem with the court system, we've seen it specifically with mr. crow. with regard to the supreme court. and if no labels wants to be a political party, which is exactly what they are trying to do, they are doing all of the things right now that they say is bad for america. they are getting a ballot in a number of states they are pushing things out there. they should be able to disclose their donors. people in

make it donor harlan crow and justice tsongas or mayor who didn't recuse herself from a case involvinglisher of her memoir. >> justices don't consider the laws applicable to them, that they are above the law and that is a problem whether it be the president or the supreme court that thinks that. >> it's up to the justices decide which cases to recuse themselves from. republicans argue congress may not have the jurisdiction. >> jericka: nikole killion reporting from capitol hill tonight. air national guardsmen jack teixeira pleaded not guilty today to federal charges stemming from what's been called the most consequential intelligence leak in the years. the-o fshg clsified milary doments abtheye w 2ar in1-ldar ukraine and other national security issues on discord, a popular social media platform for gamers. he's being held in jail for the duration of the trial. in tonight's health watch an important reminder to protect your skin from the sun's damaging rays. nikki battiste shows us how to choose the best protection. >> with countless sunscreens on the market trying to choose which is th

they have been purchased by extreme right people -- harlan crow, leonard leo. you have a coup-plotting wife for justice thomas. roberts and thomas are supposed to disclose their income. that has not been done. with regards to roe v. wade, they all agreed that they -- yet they overturned roe. why don't they keep religion out of government decisions? there is supposed to be a separation of church and state. as far as student loans go, you were talking about $10,000 or $20,000, not a $150,000 school loan. we cannot all have a makeup billionaire donor like justice thomas who makes $285,000 a year, pay for his relative school loans, pay for his mother to live rent free in a house. he literally flies high in the friendly skies. a 100 million dollars worth of vacations and private yachts, and these people are making generational changes, decisions in our lives. independent state legislature, let's talk about what it really is. it is talking about taking away your voting rights. they are going to say "we have the majority. have the majorit ." they will overturn what th

harlan crow, leonard leo. you have applauding life with justice thomas. robert and thomas, their wives are supposed to disclose their. incomes that has not been done. with regard to roe v. wade they believe it is very decisive so you have to overturn roe. i don't know, one of the keep religion out of government decisions? they are supposed to be a separation of church and state. and, then as far as student loans go, we're talking about ten or $20,000. that is an entire 50, 000, such a large school loan and we cannot all have a mega billionaire a donor like justice thomas who leaks $285,000 a year and pays for his relative school and pays for his mother to live rent free in the and pays for him when he literally flies high in the friendly skies and half 1 million dollars worth of vacations and private jets. and yachts and these people are making generational changes, decisions in our lives. and this, this independent state legislature, let's talk about what it really is. but talking about taking away your voting rights. they are going to say that if we hav

about the business of the court, it's super weird that i'm sitting here with clarence thomas and harlan crow and we're talking about sports. it's the fatuousness of the court. you match up a multibillionaire with a supreme court justice and you have them lavish them with gifts. take the win, you did it. >> here's the interesting. yesterday about 6:30 p.m. in addition to the idea propublica's reporting had already come out and this op-ed -- not the op-ed but it was an op-ed by justice alito had been printed in "the wall street journal," at 6:30 yesterday evening they came out and attacked propublica saying that they're trying to damage the court, right, by reporting on it. the language is very similar to leonard leo's language here, the idea that by reporting on justices and their ethics you are thereby damaging the court. now, as journalists that doesn't apply anywhere else. everywhere else it's holding people to account. but somehow with the supreme court if you report on them in a negative way, you're damaging the institution. >> right, this is classic shoot the messenger. this is all of t

propublica recently revealed thomas received luxury travel and other gifts from republican megadonor harlan crow for decades without reporting them. the biden administration said thursday it is halting all food assistance to ethiopia, citing a widespread and coordinated campaign to divert the aid away from people in need. reuters reports the u.s. agency -- usaid believes the food has been seen used by -- seized by ethiopian military units. the u.s. is by far the largest donor of humanitarian aid to ethiopia, where some 20 million people are experiencing food insecurity due to the recently-ended war in tigray and a persistent drought fueled by the climate crisis. israeli soldiers have shot a palestinian journalist in the head during a military raid on the city of ramallah in the occupied west bank. 22-year-old moamen sumreen was hospitalized in serious condition after he was struck by a rubber-coated steel bullet as he documented israeli troops' demolition of an apartment building wednesday evening. the building was home to the family of a man who allegedly carried out a bombing attack in jerusal

you have the mega donors, the billionaires, harlan crow and justice clarence thomas.ave got paul singer, the mega donor, both of them having major business before the supreme court post up singer with samuel alito. neither of them disclosing this so they say it really did not matter then why did they disclose that on their forms? what kind of regulation do you see needs to happen? what kind of rules to the supreme court justices have to abide by that have not been posed? >> alito said, i can take this travel because he is my friend and then also said, but i can vote on his cases because i barely know the guy. it is a real problem. the supreme court is the only court in the united states that does not have to follow a binding code of ethics. nobody is so wise should be the judge in their own case. at the very least, mentally -- minimally, they need a binding code of ethics. i think it is also important when look at term limits for supreme court justices. 18 year term say with presidents getting to make appointments every two years. these are very popular crust left and

. >>> and a lawyer for harlan crow has agreed to speak with the senate committee investigating the relationshipsupreme court justice clarence thomas. last month his legal team refused to give democrats information about the trips and gifts to thomas paid for by crow tyler, back to you >> bertha, thank you very much after a quick break, the boots, cr climbing this year as western wear takes off and it was actually a pick in the cnbc stock draft a little smile when he gets over here conventional thinking delivers conventional results. at allspring, we break away with purpose. harnessing data-driven insights and boundless curiosity. we dissect the market from every angle. helping to build portfolios that redefine what's possible. because investing isn't one size fits all. allspring. purposefully divergent. we planned well for retirement, but i wish we had more cash. you think those two have any idea? that they can sell their life insurance policy for cash? so they're basically sitting on a goldmine? i don't think they have a clue. that's crazy! well, not everyone knows coventry's helped thousands

harlan crow's lawyers believe that they are really under no obligation to offer up crow himself as partthis investigation or even to talk to the committee and they don't believe that they need to hand over any additional information about the gifts. but they have attempted to strike a compromise here where they will have a discussion about the role congress plays in the limited oversight that they have as it relates to the supreme court and at least have an introductory conversation about the way that crow and his lawyers can be helpful to the committee. but this is just one part in what is really becoming a standoff between the judiciary committee and the supreme court. democrats on the judiciary committee firmly believe that the supreme court needs a much stricter code of ethics, one that is enforceable perhaps by an independent body. and that is something that the supreme court has just soundly rejected at this point believing that they can self-police themselves. but certainly an issue that is not going to go away and something that we expect judiciary committee senate democrats in

gifts justice clarence thomas had been receive from texas billionaire and republican mega-donor harlan crow all in the name of personal hospitality. so what did justice thomas and his 2022 financial disclosure contain? we're going to have to wait a little longer to find out because justice thomas has requested a 90-day extension. "way too early" with jonathan lemire is coming up next. >>> prosecutors with the department of justice make it clear that donald j. trump is a target of the investigation. we'll have legal analysis what that means for a possible indictment in just a moment. >>> meanwhile trump's former running mate is now his newest challenger in the 2024 presidential race. we'll have more from mike pence's campaign launch. >>> plus that hazardous haze that's been covering the northeast is expected to kick back up today. we'll get the latest time line for when the wildfire smoke from canada could finally clear out. good morning and welcome to "way too early" on this thursday, june 8th. i'm jonathan lemire. thanks for starting your day with us. nbc news has learned that former presi

we need to understand how is that leonard leo got into the pain with harlan crow and with justice thomasg on here, where we have seen a couple of flashes of evidence about it, but we really need to have a complete understanding of it, and at the moment, it's the chief justice who is obstructing the investigation. >> senator, can we talk about chief justice john roberts? are you surprised that there hasn't been any internal effort that by him to speak against the behavior or actually do something, show the american people that he is doing something to curb this behavior? >> absolutely, when the dobbs opinion leak, and when the right-wing federal society touches thought that this was done or wanted to pretend that this had been done by the liberals, boom, what do you get, an instant investigation? now they made a bunch of it because they did not know what they were doing, but at least they realized that this was because of the investigation. here's a simple question, what did justice thomas know about his wife's insurrection activities, when he decided not to recuse himself from the januar

judicial conference in a more transparent and correct look at the situation in this episode of harlan crowake that referral to the attorney general to make a determination of woefulness and failing to disclose jet travel. >> but then what with the attorney general's options be if you found it to be willful? >> so there are civil penalties available under the statute, and he could pursue several penalties. but if you take a look at the criminal code, 18 united states code section 1001, that famous false statements law, that actually provides criminal penalties for following a false statement, so if the attorney general thought that the statement was so false, and the contact was so awful, that it merited being treated as a criminal act, then that would be available as well. >> i think what the audience is hearing in their realistic view that is that that would simply never happen, that it does not matter how unlawful that was. in our current politics and our current government with the sensitivities that exist, this attorney general would never prosecute a supreme court justice for that. >>

clarence thomas and the lavish gifts and trips he and his family received from texas billionaire harlan crowing just started but what's happened so far, and what do the folks on the committee say their goal is today? >> reporter: they really want to try and determine what effort the senate or the congress in general can make in terms of enforcing a code of ethics upon the supreme court, and they brought in a group of experts to answer questions about that impact issue, and where the ethics within the supreme court lie, who are responsible for enforcing those ethics, and what, if anything, can be done. in many ways, though, this is really just a pressure campaign by the members of the senate judiciary committee as they try and bring to light this issue that for many years, the supreme court has had a very lax approach when it comes to ethics in that they're largely self-policing when it comes to issues like these, and that's how these issues related to clarence thomas, and samuel alee -- alito, the gifts that were given came to light because their disclosure rules are pretty light. a lot of t

course, as also come under scrutiny for not fully disclosing his relationship with texas billionaire harlan crow the senate judiciary committee is planning to move ahead with essex -- ethics reform to dress just this. >> let me say the obvious, there's something rotten going on in the supreme court of the united states of america. when we return from the july recess, will have a mark of the supreme court ethics bill in the senate judiciary committee. >> with that, let's get smarter the help of our lead off panel. jeff bennett is here, co-anchor of pbs news hour and pbs is chief washington correspondent. luke broadwater joins us, pulitzer prize-winning congressional reporter for the new york times, and our dear friend barbara mcquade, a veteran federal prosecutor and former u.s. attorney for the eastern district of michigan. we've got a lot to cover. barb, before we get to all of that, there is another story that crossed in the last couple of hours. the department of justice has now turned over trial discovery information to donald trump and his legal team and a classified documents case, the mar

, follow the revelations around clarence thomas and his relationship with the billionaire donor harlan crow fact is the supreme court is really a rogue institution. it is an example of self-regulation. justices decide on their own whether or not to recuse the documents they file, while journalists can scrutinize those documents and maybe find other cases where they did not disclose certain gifts or other personal financial windfalls, there's basically no sanction for it. these are lifetime appointments. this is what arrogance looks like in manifested form. there is nothing much that the public can do about it except bring pressure to bear. and i think some of the rulings that we have seen this year, which have been a little more moderate, could be a result of the the crisis at the heart of the supreme court and good that journalists and other people are paying more attention to this circumstance, but it is really frustrating. and can we will continue to follow all of these issues. david dayen, executive editor of the american prospect. his piece we will like to, -- we will link to "the stud

coupled with previous reporting on the relationship of justice thomas and republican megadonor harlan crows serious ethical questions regarding the high court. josh kaplan is one of the propublica reporters who broke the story, and he joins me now. josh, welcome july 2008 trip that alito took to alaska, traveling there under private plane, paid for by that billionaire and stayed at a lodge also paid for by another major donor on the trip. neither of those things was disclosed. tell us a little about what you're reporting revealed about that trip and why people think it should have been disclosed. josh: singer was not just another guest on the trip. he provided a private jet to fly him across the country to alaska. if alito had chartered that playing himself, it could have cot easily more than $100,000. alito did not disclose any of this. it has been secret until now, and experts have told us it appears to have violated a law passed after watergate that requires justices to disclose to the public. amna: that billionaire later had a case before the supreme court. why did the experts you talk

scrutiny for these lavish trips and having private financial dealings with republican billionaire harlan crow and justice alito have gotten extensions. they can take up to 90 days, which would land us in the mid of august for those. in terms of what we saw, you mentioned a couple of sort of curiosities. we have our first african american woman justice on the court in ketanji brown jackson, things that congratulated her, including a floral arrangement from oprah winfrey congratulating her. so that was some set of flowers for her, too, poppy. >> indeed. that's what phil is going to bring his wife when he returns from a week in new york. >> why are you doing that? >> just saying. >> excellent idea. >> joan, thank you very much. >>> on that note, lionel messi considered to be the best soccer player in the world. the elaborate deal that got him to miami and what it could mean for the future of soccer in america, and will smith, apparently. ♪ ♪ >> right in? uh... here i'll takeke that. -everyone: woo hoo! ensurere max protein with 30 grams of protein, one gram of sugar.r. enter the nourishing momen

following months of reporting that he failed to report past luxury travel and real estate deals with harlan crowonor. it is a tense time for the court, with more americans than ever questioning the very legitimacy of the institution. and remember, we are still waiting on major decisions from the justices on the independent state legislator theory in north carolina, gave rights, affirmative action, a lot more. joining me now are -- and joe anderson, host of the court, with more americans than ever questioning the very legitimacy of the institution. and remember, we are still waiting on major decisions from the justices on the independent state legislator theory in north carolina, gave rights, affirmative action, a lot more. joining me now are -- and joe anderson, host of the slow burma becoming justice thomas podcast. i encourage everyone to listen to that. joel, i'll start with you, because the slow burn podcast, you are investigating clarence thomas and where he came from, how he rose to power, essentially how he became the pin the man that we have all known. you even interviewed his mother in

you're harlan, crow, and others that had been looking at this relationship and the cozy relationship between big interest and certain court members. and then looking at cases that were being brought. can you share with us the case that you're making about these relationships? well, i think there is going on at 2 levels. first you have what? everybody's looking at with somebody where you are right now, which is the extent to which this right wing billionaire group is funding the household of justice thomas his mother's brands. here the young man for whom these guardians tuition payment is directed by a lender leo, the right wing operatives to his wives. and of course, these rather unbelievable family vacations. and that's one immediate set of concerns, but it connects to the larger concern about the extent to which this group of right wing billionaires has basically packed the court with people in their own. choosing everywhere, chosen specifically to rule in their direction and who are doing so is almost perfect. statistical conformity and some of the really big decisions of the cour

thomas made in the similar claims about him traveling on the jet owned by another billionaire, harlan crowhat the rules that were just changed earlier this year to make it clear that you do have to disclose travel on a private jet, back then he didn't have to say that, and for the recusal, he says he didn't even know singer that well. his relationship with him was very limited. his engagement with him was limited and also that he didn't even know that his companies, singer himself was associated with these cases that were before the supreme court. although, it has to be pointed out that it was widely known and reported at the time that the company and his name was associated with those cases. >> at the very least, when you're talking about a flight that under normal circumstances would cost $100,000 for a passenger, is there at least danny, the appearance of conflict here. >> a supreme court justice is by definition a professional opinion writer and a professional opinion writer on the most opinion writing body in our country, so when this supreme court justice wrote an op-ed, i was ready

and i think that even in spite of the revelation after revelation after revelation about not just harlan crowrd leo and all the dark money slashing around in all the gifts and gifting that has been going on, the idea that the justices two of the justices are just like, should we do our disclosures or should we go for brunch? let's go for brunch. i think that is just still the vibe among some of the justices and the contrast between we have the congee brand jackson disclosing flowers that she got from oprah winfrey, we have elena katie disclosing a parking space. and the other hand we've just got this sort of sense of, i know i told you i was going to avail my filings but he little time. it just gives this sense that this is an afterthought and not top of mind. and i think it just goes to this fundamental sense that some of the justices have that this is not a serious consequential environments. where you disclose your gifts and discuss your travel and disclose your income. for some of. them and by the way the chief justice was very clear about his wife's status and some of them take it very s

clarence thomas had been receiving from the texas billionaire and republican billionaire donor harlan crow, all in the name of hospitality. so, what did justice thomas and his 2022 financial disclosure claim? we are going to have to wait a little longer to find out, because justice thomas has requested a 90-day extension. . that does it for us tonight. we will see you again tomorrow. and now it is time for the last word with lawrence o'donnell. good, evening lawrence. >> good evening, alex. does this mean that i have to disclose every time that out britons me flowers? >> well -- >> every time? >> the 600 dollar bouquets you get weekly should probably be disclosed. the smaller -- >> i am prepared -- >> and the corsage's that you get may skate under the disclosure limits. >> i'm prepared to disclose right now all of the flowers i have received in my entire life, which i believe is exactly zero. >> i will change that. i am going to change -- that is going to change. you don't have to -- >> there you go. no, i'm going to. if i get those flowers from you, i'm disclosing. >> exactly. you heard i

following months of reporting that he failed to report past luxury travel and real estate deals with harlan crowbillionaire gop megadonor. it is a tense time for the court, with more americans than ever questioning the very legitimacy of the institution. and remember, we are still waiting on major decisions from the justices on the independent state legislator theory in north carolina, gave rights, affirmative action, a lot more. joining me now are -- and joe anderson, host of the slow burma becoming justice thomas podcast. i encourage everyone to listen to that. joel, i'll start with you, because the slow burn podcast, you are investigating clarence thomas and where he came from, how he rose to power, essentially how he became the pin the man that we have all known. you even interviewed his mother in his childhood home and she's been the subject of intense scrutiny. what did you learn, and how did you think that applies to the current scandals that he's embroiled in? >> well, i think as much as anything, it's kind of surprising how wide open the home is. i think that because they're not very co

there's death by republicans, they're getting their money from republicans, including harlan crow, clarencee going to put a conservative democrat on their cannon to pull votes from joe biden. last week they said that they would pull out if one desantis was the nominee because they are a republican super pac. they're looking for a spoiler to defeat joe biden no matter what their quasi-language, no matter what their do good are affected is. they are looking to kill off joe biden. that is all they're there for. anyone giving the money, he was not of republican, is a fool. >> as you know, no labels has said, as i'm sure you mention, they would not be a spoiler. that doesn't mean that they won't mount a candidate for some body. they've got real money. there is other people out there who might consider getting in. given the closest in the race, with the head to head matchup, with the margin an error between biden and trump, there's a real spoiler possibility there, isn't there? just statistically right now. >> statistically, yes. there is a spoiler possibility. work is right that there is no real

and recent reporting shows ties among right-wing operative leonard leo, billionaire megadonor, harlan crow, and justice thomas. again, often implicated in the filing of amicus briefs without links disclosed. to these concerns and others, the response of the court has been secrecy, and silence. when my bill would end the practice of supreme court justices judging their own conflicts of interest. require better disclosure and transparency so the public knows when justice has a connection to a party or in a case before the court. and require judges to explain their recusal decisions for everyone to see. as we hear from today's witnesses about why these reforms are needed, we should all keep in mind a maxim so old that it is in latin. name oh -- [speaking non-english] no one should be a judge in their own case. with that, without senator kennedy, here i won't yield to him for his opening remarks, but the chairman of the senate judiciary committee, senator durbin, is here, and i would invite him to make any opening remarks he should care to deliver, thank you for being, here mr.. chairman >> th

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