House Dems demand full investigation into Clarence Thomas' 'ethical lapses'

House Democrats wrote a letter to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts calling on him to create an independent investigative body within the Supreme Court to probe Justice Clarence Thomas' relationship with a wealthy GOP donor, NBC News reported.

The letter was headed by Rep. Dan Goldman, D-N.Y., and co-authored by 17 other Democratic lawmakers. It was critical of Roberts for saying the court can convince the public that it "adheres to the highest standards of conduct" without new oversight.

A ProPublica report from April said that Thomas was a frequent guest on GOP megadonor Harlan Crow's jet and yacht without disclosing the activity. Another report by the same outlet said Justice Samuel Alito accepted gifts from GOP megadonor Paul Singer, who since had cases related to his hedge fund come before the court at least 10 times.

"Despite your insistence that the Court can police itself, you have provided no rationale or vision for how the Court will do so," Goldman and the 17 co-authors wrote. "Moreover, the Court’s failure to conduct a meaningful, independent investigation into allegations against Justices Thomas and Alito only underscores widespread concerns that the Supreme Court is not subject to a code of ethics or an adequate enforcement process."

"Using a revamped and independent internal investigative process, we urge that investigative body to engage in a substantial investigation — culminating with a public report — on the many allegations of ethical lapses and conflicts of interests by Justice Thomas," the authors wrote.

"If, as you say, the Court is capable of upholding the highest ethical standards, then we hope you will accept our recommendations to establish an independent and transparent investigative body and separate ethics counsel to regain the trust and confidence of the American people," the lawmakers wrote.

Read the full report at NBC News.