'This is something that looks really fishy': ex-prosecutor says probe of Supreme Court is needed

An investigation into Clarence Thomas and other members of the Supreme Court for potential ethical violations is warranted, a former federal prosecutor said.

Thomas and his wife Ginni have been accused of numerous undisclosed gifts, including arranging for Ginni to get secret payments from a Republican donor. The Senate has the power to push forward on an investigation, according to former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.

Mariotti said a subpoena fight isn't likely to make it to the Supreme Court in part because Thomas would likely have to recuse himself.

"I think the appearance of how that would look and be before the Supreme Court -- I think that would be very difficult," Mariotti said on MSNBC. It would be very hard for Thomas not to recuse if he didn't it would create even more of an appearance of an issue."

Mariotti added that, if the Senate pushes forward on a probe, he thinks it's "a real matter of political will on the part of the United States Senate and Senators."

Mariotti also noted that there is something to be looked at in the ongoing ethics disclosures.

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"Frankly, there is something to investigate here. You don't need to be a legal scholar or a lawyer to know this is something that looks really fishy," he told the MSNBC panel. "If somebody was paying my kid's tuition, then, obviously, I would be beholden to that person."

Mariotti further said, "And the fact that the Supreme Court doesn't have standards is an issue."

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