‘History’ will judge Chief Justice John Roberts, Durbin says

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday said “history” will judge the Supreme Court’s Chief Justice John Roberts amid controversies about ethics on the nation’s highest court.

“Chief Justice Roberts has the power in his hands to change this first thing tomorrow morning. He could announce a code of conduct for the court and finally mean something. He can announce that the court will be subject to at least the minimum standards that apply to all other federal judges,” Durbin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” 

“This is the Roberts Court and history is going to judge him by the decision he makes on this. He has the power to make the difference,” the senator added. 

A series of reports from ProPublica have revealed that Texas billionaire Harlan Crow paid for Thomas to partake in luxury vacations, engaged in a real estate deal with Thomas and paid tuition money to a private boarding school for Thomas’s great-nephew. 

The reports have brought new scrutiny upon the Supreme Court justices. The Senate Judiciary Committee, which Durbin chairs, held a hearing last week on ethics reforms for the court — and Roberts declined an invitation from Durbin to speak before the committee.

Durbin on Sunday also highlighted revelations from a recent Washington Post report that conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo directed tens of thousands of dollars to Thomas’s wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, and requested that she not be named in the paperwork. 

“You shouldn’t have that sort of thing happening at the highest court in America. It just destroys the integrity of the court,” Durbin said.