whitehouse: the issue is probably not harlan crow.harlan crow is in trouble for any of this, unless false statements were filed of some kind, but we have no indication of that. the problem is on the court side. supreme court justices, like other judges, have an obligation to file disclosures that show what gifts and emoluments they have received. and that legal obligation, a law passed by congress, is implement -- implemented it by the judicial conference, a body created by congress for that purpose. we need to look into whether those laws are being properly implemented by the judicial conference, should these big gifts have been disclosed, and how do the arguments that they didn't need to be disclosed fare when shown to the light of day? my contention is the arguments fare terribly in the light of day. the gifts should have been disclosed, and potentially because of the systematic nature of these gifts, there may be a good deal more to this than just come on my yacht and have a nice afternoon. geoff: so you said congress does have a

both leonard leo and harlan crow have already come out with statements denouncing the possibility of issuing them subpoenas. how will you go about enforcing those subpoenas, once they're issued? >> well, we're moving forward with the investigation one step at a time. the first step next thursday is to vote for the subpoenas. once the subpoenas are in place, they are a legal command to these individuals, to come forward and provide the documents and answer the questions that we have asked for. if they refuse, we have a number of options and we will be making a decision as a committee about which options we should pursue. but, i would note that the argument that they have made, which is that it is unconstitutional of us to ask these questions, is a ridiculous argument by any measure. this is a question of disclosure by justices of gifts, which must be done under a law that congress passed. and if the gifts are big enough, recusal by justice is under a law that congress passed, and the judicial conference which implements the disclosure and the recusal law, is a body that congress has c

lucky for him harlan crow covered the cost. he also went on trips to bohemian groves, spent summers at crow's private resort in the adirondacks. but there's more. crow paid thousands of dollars to cover tuition for justice thomas' grand-nephew. he purchased real estate owned by thomas and his relatives, including thomas' mother's home where she continues to live rent-free, and crow donated half a million dollars to a conservative advocacy group founded by justice thomas' wife. i could go on and on and on because the list of gifts justice thomas has chosen to accept and failed to disclose goes on and on and on. justice thomas is not the only supreme court justice who's accepted lavish gifts from billionaires and refused to disclose them. in 2008, justice samuel alito boarded a private jet bound for alaska to enjoy a luxury fishing trip, a trip that should have cost him over $100,000, but it didn't cost him one penny because the man who organized the flight and joined alito on the luxury fishing trip, leonard leo. mr. leo arrange

harlan crow calling this an invalid subpoena, an unlawful and partisan investigation.re what democrats are asking of them. >> sahil kapur for us. thank you. from here, we want to stay at the capitol. i believe now the debate is beginning on whether to expel george santos. the clerk is currently reading the resolution, let's listen in. >> violations of federal law and the rules of the house, related to unfiled 2021 and 2023 financial disclosure statements. representative santos failed to meet his duty of candor with respect to the isc's investigation whereas on may 10th, 2023, representative santos was charged in federal court in the eastern district of new york with wire fraud in connection with a fraudulent political contribution scheme. unlawful monetary transactions in connection with the wire fraud allegations, theft of public money in connection with his alleged receipt of unemployment benefits, fraudulent application for and receipt of unemployment benefits, and false statements in connection with his 2020 and 2022 house of representatives financial disclosure st

so, it -- harlan crow, the billionaire friend and benefactor of clarence thomas, maybe a few others. committee leadership over into subpoena territory? >> well, we were getting noncooperation from the various individuals that we requested and we were getting noncooperation that seemed utterly incredible. their theory was that we have absolutely no business conducting any inquiries here, which overlooks the fact that the disclosure statute that is in issue is a statute passed by congress and the recusal statute that would be triggered by gifts like this is another statute passed by congress, and the body that implements those tools is the judicial -- which is an agency created by congress. so, their argument is, you congress don't get any oversight over how an agency you, congress, created, is implementing laws that you, congress, passed. just from me saying it, you could see that the argument is nonsense and the fact that we were just sticking to it tells me, a, that there is really something to hide there and be, that we are just going to have to push forward with proper compulsory

that is something harlan crow head said in the past.who has excessively worked in court policy, break down that argument for us. that the supreme court and the judicial branch in our government, in our constitution, basically does not have oversight. because on our -- its surface, that seems fundamentally flawed that there be a branch in government that has no oversight. >> it applies in the face of checks and balances that are fundamental to the constitution, but also it applies in the basis of history. there are hundreds of filings by supreme court justices, following, or at least saying that they're following that ethics and government act. that statute has been on since 1978, and it's been unquestioned that it applies to supreme court justices. it's only recently, as these misdeeds have been exposed, as this extraordinary influence peddling by these billionaires, who aren't just billionaires, the billionaires that fund groups that -- to change our rights. it's only now that suddenly there is an assertion that congress has no power t

senate judiciary committee chair dick durbin announced his committee would pursue subpoenas for harlan crow and leonard leo as part of a probe into gifts provided to supreme court justices. ranking member lindsey graham said republicans would vigorously oppose the actions. a vote on subpoenas was delayed and would happen at a later time. also during the meeting, members advanced several of president biden's district court nominations. sen. durbin: this meeting will come to order. we will discuss judicial nominations. the committee will then vote on my requests for authorization for subpoenas related to the committee's investigation into the supreme court's ethics situation. i do not make this request for subpoenas lightly. i therefore would like to take a moment to outline the basis for the committee's investigation and the necessity for the subpoena and how it clearly follows -- falls within prior committee precedent. congress' oversight authority stems from its legislative power. as the supreme court has made clear, congress' quote, power of inquirience tends to, quote, any subject on whi

the senate judiciary committee met to consider whether to pursue subpoenas for republican donor harlan crownd conservative judicial activist leonard leo as part of an ethics investigation into lavish gifts given to supreme court justices. a vote was postponed after republicans file dozens of amendments that would prolonged the committee's meeting. chair dick durbin saying afterward that the delay was "due to a scheduling issue." mbers advanced several of president biden's district court nominations. sen. durbin: this meeting will come to order. we will discuss judicial nominations. the committee will then vote on my requests for authorization for subpoenas related to the committee's investigation into the supreme court's ethics situation. i do not make this request for subpoenas lightly. i therefore would like to take a moment to outline the basis for the committee's investigation and the necessity for the subpoena and how it clearly follows -- falls within prior committee precedent. congress' oversight authority stems from its legislative power. as the supreme court has made clear, congres

and then harlan crow put out a statement that said the judiciary committee democrats violation of theommittee's own rules to issue an invalid subpoena, further demonstrates the unlawful and partisan nature of this investigation. the senate republicans have two complaints one very substantive saying democrats have just trying to bully the supreme court and their allies, but they also had a procedural concern about whether the subpoena vote was actually done properly. >> we know the supreme court actually adopted an ethics code earlier this month. we all covered that. >> right. >> how does that play into what happened today? >> well, that ethics code was the first time they put anything on paper formally. but they had no mechanism for complaints to be filed about them, and they basically are saying we will be the judge of our own behavior. we'll be the judge of whether we're adhering the code. so that code was a first step. but as the senate judiciary committee chairman durbin said it fell short of what the committee wants and what i think a lot of the people in the public want in terms

democrats clashed with republicans over their plans subpoena harlan crow about information on his gifts to justice thomas. they also want subpoena another republican donor and leonard leo, both of whom have flatly refused to cooperate with the committee's investigation. >> let us be very clear about what is going on here. billionaires who are invested heavily in influencing the supreme court have been caught giving enormous secret gifts to individual justices. >> y'all ought to be ashamed of yourself because you're the ones who always profess how you're defending our democracy. you're the ones undermining our democracy. >> the highest court in the land cannot have the lowest standard of ethics in the government. >> this is a fight you want, you're going to get it. >> the panel is set to vote next week on whether to issue those subpoenas, so stay tuned. >>> when we come back, tonight israel says its troops have now completely encircled gaza city and are engaged in face-to-face battles with hamas. the quote, concept of a cease-fire according to an israeli military spokesman is currently n

will the committee proceed in pursuing the subpoenas for harlan crow and leonard leo?eed. i certainly am. and our process is to reschedule after the avalanche of obstructive amendments that we got so we're prepared for it next time and can deal with it and go on to the important vote, which is the one on the subpoenas. >> right. and i mean, in terms of what is in front of the court this term, these questions are very much relevant. >> yeah, they're very relevant. and by the way, we have two of the billionaires already cooperating. so it's not as if we're doing something that's so improper that nobody will cooperate. and the ones we're still looking at are harlan crow, who you mentioned, and leonard leo, who has been the functionary for the billionaires and was behind the trump supreme court list and was involved and traveled with alito on his fishing trip and was sitting with harlan crow with thomas in his back yard where the painting was made. so these are people who are deeply, deeply enmeshed with the court right-wing justices. >> well, it felt like an important ste

and leonard leo is in the harlan crow painting and leonard leo sent the money to ginni thomas, and he almost wherever you touch this network of right wing billionaires and the justices they put on the court, you see their intermediary there, a little functionary leonard leo. so he is a very, very important center of this little web of scheming. >> is your theory of the case that there is going to be -- because the subpoenas will go forward. you will hopefully have a chance to ask these questions of these gentlemen, that there is some smoking gun, sore it to reveal for the american people who are paying very close attention now to the supreme court, just ask sam alito who is super cranky about it every time "the wall street journal" dials his home phone, just to reveal to the american people how netted up and how corrupt it is? >> i think probably more the latter. we may turn up instances of law-breaking, particularly around tax filings or potential false statements that were made. but i think the bottom line here is that we simply cannot have a united states supreme court that is capt

harlan crow to pay $100,000? that was weird. that aside, this is -- there are definitely within the code provisions that are akin to the old saying about caesar's wife. even caesar's wife should be on reproach. there are definitely some justices whose political activities do touch on the business of the court in ways i think are unseemly. but, it is one of those things that could have gone farther and could have been more clear about what political activities are not allowed and which are not. ns for the new headquarters and of teleworking government office space.

the senate judiciary committee meets to consider subpoenas for harlan crow and leonard leo as part of appved into lavish gifts received by supreme court justices. download cspan now app to watch or go to our website, c-span.org. ♪ announcer: c-span's studentcam documentary competition is a back, celebrating 20 years with this year's theme, looking forward about considering the past. we are asking middle and high school students read a five to six minute video addressing one of these questions. in the next 20 years, it is the most important change would like to see in america? or over the past 20 years, it is been the most important change in america? we are giving away $100,000 in total prizes with the grand prize of $5,000, and every teacher who has students participate in this year's competition has the opportunity to share in a portion of an additional $50,000. the competition deadline is friday, january 15, 2024. for more information, visit our website at studentcam.org. announcer: c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we are funded by these television companies and more,

his hobbies include cozying up to billionaire donor, harlan crow, and driving a debt free rv financedse rules are outlined in this new code are not new, or novel. they require the justices to uphold the integrity of independents of the judiciary, and to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities. there are those, including me, who don't think that these rules go far enough. senator, dick german, chair of the senate judiciary committee, says the actions are important steps. they fall short of what we should expect. in my opinion, what we deserve. it's also unclear how the court intends to actually enforce these new rules. meaning, at this, point the justices will essentially operate on a pinky promise and we're left hoping for the best. joining me, now legal correspondent for slate. the host of the podcast amicus, and an msnbc law and politics analyst. dahlia, my friend, good to see you. i don't buy this at all. i think that it's a gratuitous move. you, know the real tell, i think, dahlia, there's no enforcement mechanism. none whatsoever. so for, me it's, li

the senate judiciary committee needs to consider authorizing subpoenas for harlan crow and leonard leo relating to the committee's supreme court ethics investigation. also at 2 p.m. hearing on migration at the u.n. southern border of the so-called remain in mexico policy. you can also watch our live coverage on the free c-span now video app or online at c-span.org. >> traveling over the holidays? make c-span's bookshelf podcast part of your playlist. listen to all of c-span's podcast the future nonfiction books in one place. c-span bookshelf features multiple episodes with critically acclaimed authors discussing history, biographies, current events and culture from our signature programs about books, afterwards, booknotes+ and q&a. listen to c-span's bookshelf podcast feed this holiday season. you can find it and all of our podcasts from the c-span now free mobile video app aware of you get your podcast. and on a website c-span.org/podcasts. the. >> if you ever miss any of c-span's coverage you can find it anytime online at c-span.org videos of the hearings, debates and other events fe

on thursday, the senate judiciary committee meets to consider whether republican donor harlan crow and a judicial activist as part of a probe into gifts received by supreme court justices after the court announced it was announcing a new code of conduct. watch the senate judiciary committee live at ten a.m. eastern on c-span, or online at c-span.org. >> tv, every sunday on c-span2, features leading authors discussing their latest nonfiction books. beginning at 11 a.m. eastern, live coverage of miami book fair with the authoofur migrant soul. and the author of king, a life on the legacy of martin luther king jr. and the author of dream town o racial equity in america. at 10 p.m. eastern on after rds, an author on her journey to become one of the leading scientists in the field of artificial intelligence. she is interviewed by a technology reporter. watch book tv every sunday on c-span2, or watch itin oe anytime at booktv.org. >> c-span is your unfiltered view of government. we're funded by these television companies and more, including charter communications. >>

that is something that harlan crow has said in the past.eak down that argument for us that the supreme court and the judicial branch in our government, in our constitution, basically does not have oversight. because on its surface, that seems fundamentally flawed that there would be a branch of government that has no oversight. >> a pleasant the checks and balances that are fundamental to the petition. but it's files and the face of history. there are -- by supreme court justices following or saying that they're following the ethics and government act. that statute has been in the book since 1978 and it's unquestioned that it applies to supreme court justices. it's only recently as these misdeeds have been exposed as an extraordinary evidence influence peddling from billionaires, not just any billions, but billionaires -- to change our rights. it's only now that some -- there's an assertion that congress has no power to regulate these justices. every justice on the supreme court has filed this forms and the certified under severe level pena

individuals have cooperated with the committee's investigation, leonard leo has refused to cooperate, harlan crowe has refused to provide a complete response. this should concern all of us. defending congress' legislative and oversight authority should transcend partisanship. to protect congress' authority and advance the committee's efforts to implement an enforceable code of conduct i'm not pursuing compulsory process for two individual who was refused to comply with this committee's oversight request for months. contrast this with the request for subpoena from the other side not that long ago in 2020 for the cross fire hurricane investigation. they provided the chair with a blanket authorization to subpoena more than 50, 50 named persons and an unlimited number of unnamed persons. in that case there have been no prior outreach to the vast majority of the individuals and the trump justice department was already voluntarily providing responsive information to the committee. which brings me to my final point. i will be offering a manager's amendment that removes authorization to issue a subpoena t

we're here about the authorization of a subpoena to three individuals -- harlan crow, leonard lee yoa and -- leonard leo and robert arkley, who have engaged in, we know for sure, a pt -- pattern of gift giving including lavish vacations, private jet flights, school tuition and even a luxury r.v. these wealthy political activists have given those gratuities, we know for sure. but we know very little else because the supreme court has no code of ethics. the united states supreme court could defuse a lot of degrading rumor and speculation if it were simply to do as every other branch of government, as every other judge except for the united states supreme court does and impose a code of ethics. its refusal to adopt a code of ethics lies at the core of our reason for being here today. but in my view, these subpoenas are part of an effort to save the court from its own self-inflicted ethical crisis. it is a ethical conflagration of its own making. the supreme court justices are the only federal judges that are not subject to a binding and enforceable ethical code, and that leads to the nex

both leonard leo and harlan crow are central players in this crisis. their attempts to thwart the legitimate oversight efforts of the congress should concern all of us. as i said before, i do not seek this authorization lightly and do not ask for it often. but to protect congress's authority and advance the committee's efforts to implement an enforceable code of conduct for the supreme court, it is necessary to seek authorization to pursue compulsory process with respect to mr. leo and mr. crow. before turning to the ranking member senator graham his opening remarks, i will tell you that the standards we will follow in procedure are all president of the committee. they have been used by the two previous republican chairman and we can cite the exact date when that happened. senator graham is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. what a difference a day makes. yesterday we had four florida judges that came forward in the committee where the two senators from florida both republicans reached agreement with the white house to fill judicial vacancies at t

began reporting on the justices finances, including in this reports were that republican megadonor, harlan crowd paid for expensive trips and more for justice clarence thomas. thomas had the rules did not require such the closures, republica also disclosed that justice samuel alito did not disclose luxury fishing trip back in 2008. he said criticisms were not, quote, valid. joined now by senior supreme court analyst. joan, do any of these guidelines go far enough to satisfy the understandable criticism that has been leveled? >> they do not, anderson, we finally got at least a written code. it is the first step in what members of the public, senate democrats, watch groups, hopes media commentators had been pushing for. so, it is a first step. the chief justice john roberts had really been struggling behind the scenes, i even get the majority to do something. in the end, he was able to get unanimity. i think it's because of the kind of atmosphere you just referred to there in terms of the new stories. constant drumbeat of, can't they have some sort of written rules the way lower court judges have

failed to disclose luxury vacations that were paid for by the conservative billionaire and donor harlan crowde of conduct leaves a lot of unanswered questions, so hopefully here to answer this is supreme court expert and law professor at the university of texas, steve vladeck. steve, so great to have you. is it clear to you who is going to enforce this ethics code? >> the only thing that's clear is that the justices are expecting that they will enforce of themselves. this of course raises the time old question, who watches the watchers? part of the issue from state development is we have these rules that at least looks somewhat reasonable on paper, but part of the issue with the prior behavior is rules that were not followed. how are we going to know going forward that these rules are being followed? what are the consequences going to be if and when just do not follow them? >> that is what is so murky about this. when you look at this on the first page, they talk about the recent questionable behavior from some of the justices. i think the question that i have is, if this code had been in pl

at the same time the senate judiciary committee meets to coider subpoenas for reblican donor harlan crow as part of a probe into lavish gifts reived by supreme court justices. download c-span n to watch her go to our website, c-span.org. >> c-span now is a free mobile app featuring unfiltered view of what's happening in washington live and on-demand. keep up with today's biggest events with live streams of floor proceedings and hearings from the u.s. congress, white house events, the courts, campaigns and more from the world of politics all at your fingertips. you can also stay current with the latest episodes of washington general and find schedule information for c-span's tv network in c-span radio plus a variety of compiling podcast. c-span now is available at the apple store and google play. download it for free today. c-span now your front-row seat to washington anytime anywhere. >> next, white house budget director shalanda young and interior secretary deb haaland discussing the biden administration's policies and budget priorities. they talk about so-called economics, ukraine in v

pharma, whether it's the nra, or institutions like that, or even just individual wealthy donors like harlan crow. you know, when you think about money and how it's actually corrupted even our supreme court, you know, look at that eighth circuit court ruling last week that gutted the voting rights act. i mean, you're talking about -- they quoted my harvard law school classmate, both appointed by trump. these are people that there is money an interest behind promoting a certain ideology, but in promoting certain politics, and i think that's why we're not seeing problems being solved by our representatives. >> i think you're gonna get a lot of immense on that. way too much money in politics, way too many big donors, billionaires, it's better at controlling our politics. u.s. senate candidate -- please come back, let's talk more about getting the money out of the system. i think that's a very important conversation. let's have it again. thank you for being here. we'll be right back. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ salonpas, makers of powerful pain relief patches for 89 years... believes in c

the judicial conference is looking into its second round of harlan crow, free yeah and jet travel troops to the attorney general, to determine if the justices conduct was not disclosed, and that was willful. and second, the justice and his lawyers presumed that a recent rule clarification changed the rule, so that he'd say he comply going forward, but i'd ask the judicial conference to answer whether they have set, it was just a clarification, which means you have to go back, and amend all of the previous filings. that question, is still before the judicial conference, so there is a lot left to look into, both from congress and from the judicial conference and thomas's misconduct. >> often, the finance committee inquiry on this also will ultimately go to the question of, well, basically -- >> taxis. >> tax of asian, but i don't want to go, it's not necessarily tax evasion, but it could absolutely require an amended tax return. >> if somebody on twitter $70, 000, and you pay interest on it for several years, and then that individual says, never mind, that's enough then the principle that

supreme court ethics probe the senate judiciary committee could call up billionaire republican donor harlan crow and fund-raiser leonard leo both facing questions over their ties to justices clarence thomas and samuel alito >>> united airlines is making changes to its frequent flier program to reward big spenders they will also make it easier to earn elite status through chase credit card starting next year, customers will get 25 points for every $500 they spend. right now it's 500 points for every 12,000 spent >>> and this one is wild actor/musician jared leto scaled part of the empire state building after the climb he told the "today" show crew he did it for the tour of his band 30 seconds to mars. that is just nuts. back to you. >> i have nothing else to say, bertha thank you. bertha coombs. >>> up next, we're tracking the trades rob sechan adding one big bank we'll tell you what it is and the others ( ♪ ♪ ) ( ♪ ♪ ) ♪ (when the day that) ♪ ♪ (lies ahead of me) ♪ ♪ ( seems impossible to face) ♪ ♪ (a lovely day) ♪ ♪ (lovely day) ♪ ♪ (lovely day) ♪ ♪ (lovely day) ♪ a bank that knows your busines

failed to disclose financial ties including his acceptance of vacations from conservative donor harlan crow. justice sonia sotomayor also found herself in a bit of trouble after a report revealed her staff pressured schools to purchase her books in large quantities before she came to speak. several justices, including the chief justice, have recently publicly supported reforms and justice elena kagan even suggested congress should step in if the courts failed to do so. watch. >we are not imperial. can congress do various things to regulate the supreme court? i think the answer is yes. >> already some criticism coming from congress over this new code. there are several mentions in the document about the appearance of influence or the appearance of impropriety. but something missing specifically, bret, from the document who has the financial say if a justice doesn't follow the code. bret? >> bret: david spunt, thank you. the defense is presenting its case in the civil fraud trial against former president donald trump. his adult children, and their associates. donald trump jr. testified in cou

propublica began reporting on the justices financing, including republican megadonor harlan crowe hadfor expensive trips and more justice clarence thomas. thomas said the rules didn't require such disclosures. samuel alito also did not disclose a luxury fishing trip in 2008. he said the criticisms were, quote, not valid. joan vis cue pick. do these guidelines go far enough to understand the criticism that's been levelled? >> no, they don't, anderson. but we've finally got at least a written code. so, it is the first step in what members of the public, senate democrats, watchdog groups, you know, a host of media commentators have been pushing for. so, it is a first step. and the chief justice john roberts had really been struggling behind the scenes first to even get a majority to do something. and in the end, he was able to get unanimity. and ink it's because of the kind of atmosphere you just referred there in terms of the news stories, the constant drum beat of can't they have some sort of written rules the way lower court judges have. but the key thing is exactly as you said, there

the committee is considering subpoenas for billionaire republican donor harlan crow, a benefactor of clarence thomas and conservative activist leonard leo who helped former president trump compile a list of potential supreme court nominees. senator rand paul performed the heimlich maneuver on senator johnny ernst during lunch. choking on food. later posted on x can't help but choke on the woke policies democrats are forcing down our throats. paul is a graduate of duke medical school and medical doctor. the dow hit a new high for the year after surging 520 points. the s&p 500 finished ahead 17. nasdaq was down 32. up next elon musk has a profane suggestion for advertisers. first here is what some of our fox affiliates are covering tonight. fox 10 in phoenix as the woman convicted of murdering her children and accused of killing one man and conspiring to kill another is extradited to arizona. so-called doomsz day mom lori vallow was in an idaho prison after the guilty verdict this past may. fox 29 in philadelphia as the city council passes legislation banning facial coverings. the bill

committee has scheduled a vote on an issue getting subpoenas to leonard leo and republican billionaire harlan crows investigation of supreme court ethics, including highland grove's massive gift package, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash in so-called forgiven loans along with private jet and private yacht travel to supreme court justice clarence thomas that should have been revealed publicly by the judge himself. politico is reporting, quote, conservative judicial activist leonard leo's consulting firm received $21 million in 2022 from group that is a pillar of leo's aligned nonprofit network. that group, the 85 fund, is part of an umbrella of nonprofits under investigation by the washington d. c. attorney general for potentially violating tax laws. carrie severino, a former law clerk to justice clarence thomas, is a director of the group. joining us now to untangle it all is democratic senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island, member of the senate judiciary committee and author of the scheme, how the west of the scheme, how the right wing used dark money to capture the supreme

thomas failed to disclose lavish gifts and payments from billionaire and conservative activist harlan crow more reporting revealed that justice neil gorsuch sold property he co-owned to the head of a major law firm that has since had many cases before the supreme court and the wife of chief justice john roberts was paid over $10 million in commissions as a job recruiter placing lawyers at elite law firms. the supreme court's updated, 14-page code of conduct contains no enforcement mechanism. the anti-corruption group revolving door project blasted it as a "unenforceable public relations document serves absolutely no purpose other than to permit the media to revert to pretending that our unaccountable and unethical supreme court retains legitimacy." a former attorney for donald trump has revealed an aide to the ex-president said in december 2020 that trump did not plan to leave the white house under any circumstances. on monday, "the washington post" published video of four defendants who have accepted plea deals in the georgia election interference case answering prosecutors' questions as

subpoenas to the powerful benefactors of justice clarence thomas, including billionaire mega donor harlan crowca detailing lavish gifts and luxury vacations thomas received from crow. there's also recent reporting that justice thomas' luxury rv was bought from a loan from another wealthy friend. nbc news has not independently confirmed that report. a senate review found this loan for over a quarter million dollars wasn't paid back but rather was forgiven and not reported on disclosure forms. the senate also wants to subpoena another donor, robert archly ii and conservative activist leonard leo. they have either refused to comply with the committee's investigation or have offered limited information. joining me to break all of this down is leah lipman, the university of michigan's law school and my cohost on the strict scrutiny podcast. leah, what is the importance of the subpoenas that may be coming next week from the senate judiciary committee? >> well, senate democrats seem finally willing and able to step up and do actually oversight and enforcement. we learned from senator wyden's inquiry

dollars in gifts and trips, a lavish lifestyle, funded from a very connected billionaire donor, harlan crow. you've probably heard about the links, this was a block buster story. justice thomas has resisted calls to return the value of the gifts, let alone provide any transparency. he has leaned into what has been the supreme court's lax ethics situation. and many legal expert says he has embarrassed not only himself but really the whole court which demands high standards from everyone except on ethics, its own members. this issue jumped back into the headlines just last week, you might recall. chairman durbin was leading the senate judiciary committee in a push to subpoena one of the donors i mentioned, crow, as well as a very connected legal activist and advocate, leonard leo, who has been involved with several appointees who sit on the court. the subpoenas have not dropped. but we actually heard from senator durbin about this in the last few days. >> how can we take these nine people in the federal government and say they're going to be treated differently than anybody else. they don't h

today they're about to embark on considering subpoenas for conservatives like leonard leo and harlan crowehe center of the supreme court ethics battle. durbin has been reedleading on saying he wants more testimony and more public light shed on what is going on between the supreme court and some of the conservative donors who people like justice clarence thomas have been linked to. republicans, of course, have been stone walling that, so technically this is about a procedural thing that durbin just did, but actually it is not, jose. >> ali vitali on capitol hill, thank you. >>> up next, new and, well, concerns about escalating violence in the israeli occupied west bank. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. w. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. everyone's gonna need more tide. it's a mess out there. that's why there's 85% more tide in every power pod. -see? -ah. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data. so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's y

abruptly adjourned before lawmakers were to vote on subpoenas for billionaire republican donor harlan crownd conservative legal activist leonard leo. in light of media reports about conservative justices anticipate accepting free hospitality and travel without disclosing it. committee chairman senator dick durbin of illinois adjourned the meeting after republicans intentionally filed 88 amendments at the last minute in an effort to derail the inquiry. the gop threatened subpoena supreme court justices sonia sotomayor, attorney general merrick garland, propublica, the media outlet and gps and cellphone location data from hunter biden and president joe biden. durbin said democrats are still united on issuing subpoenas, but it's now unclear when the votes will take place. >>> elsewhere, the man accused of breaking into former house speaker nancy pelosi's san francisco home and striking her husband with a hammer, he went on trial yesterday. opening statements began in the federal case of david depap, who was charged with assaulting 82-year-old paul pelosi just days before last year's mid-term

court by issuing subpoenas to conservative political activist leonard leo and republican donors, harlan crow and robin arkley, billionaires. >> who are investing heavily? in influencing the supreme have been caught giving enormous secret gifts. to individual justices. but republicans on the senate judiciary committee slammed the efforts is an effort to delegitimize the supreme court because you don't like the way they rule. senator lindsey graham argued it's inappropriate for congress to get involved in the high court and promised republicans will block the efforts, the underlying approach. you're taking all of us believe design, constitutional. that is obvious nonsense. democrats say they'll press ahead with the investigations and subpoenas and the committee will address the topic again next week in washington. alexandra limon. >> the supreme court is likely to rule against a trademark of the phrase trump to small after a bay area lawyer tried to patton it. the case goes back to the 2016 presidential primary debate between marco rubio and donald trump and during the race, rubio had mocked t

court by issuing subpoenas to conservative political activist leonard leo and republican donors, harlan crow robin arkley, billionaires. >> who are investing heavily? in influencing the supreme court. have been caught giving enormous secret gifts. to individual justices. but republicans on the senate judiciary committee slammed the efforts is an effort to delegitimize the supreme court. >> because you don't like rhe way they rule. senator lindsey graham argued it's inappropriate for congress to get involved in the high court and promised republicans will block the efforts, the underlying approach. you're taking all of us to believe design constitution. that is obvious nonsense. democrats say they'll press ahead with the investigations and subpoenas and the committee will address the topic again next week in washington. alexandra limon. >> coming up, the oakland roots and soul sports club is under some new ownership tied them. details on what's being called the most successful community investment round of its kind. but first, the u.s. surgeon general in san francisco today to discuss america

harlan crow and leonard leo are two resisting demands for answers about the controversial gifts.s tonight. i mentioned we are going to bring you chairman durbin who you're only going hear on this program. the judiciary chairman has been trying to move towards subpoenas to get answers on this story. i just caught up with him about the effort. and i want to show you what he told me. this is an excerpt of an interview we just did airing right now for the first time. >> we're trying to get more information. we now have clear evidence that at least one, maybe more security justices, have received lavish gifts, including luxury trips around the world, and we need some more detail. they don't disclose them. turns out good journalism -- propublica and other places exposed them to the public, but the purpose of the committees is to ask the principals, the billionaire who is defended them to give us details. >> he cites the investigative report by propublica. he also told me how more members of the supreme court are saying sit time to finally do something here. this is like a wide-open, ve

leonard leo and harlan crowe have come under scrutiny for the luxury trips and gifts provided to justicesol hill correspondent julie tsirkin is with us now. explain the significance of these subpoenas and what happens next in this investigation. >> reporter: well, the subpoenas were expected this vote today was expected and it just started a couple of minutes ago. republicans have filed close to 90 amendments, but the votes themselves to these two individuals, the subpoenas are expected to be filed because of the majority democrats hold on the committee. the question is whether they will be enforced, though. that's a separate matter. that would all but likely require a full senate vote, which, of course, republicans are unlikely to give democrats any ammo when it comes to that. let's take a step back and realize why we got here. these two individuals are part of the judiciary committee, democrat chairman dick durbin's probe to try and come up with an ethics code of conduct for the supreme court to abide by. the supreme court does not have a mandatory ethics code. they sort of police thems