Senate Finance Committee Chair Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) said he is talking to his colleagues about the next steps, including a potential subpoena for Harlan Crow.
Sen. Wyden tweeted:
Harlan Crow continues to stonewall over his gifts to Clarence Thomas. Nothing is off the table as I discuss next steps with my Finance Committee colleagues to compel answers to our questions from Mr. Crow, including by subpoena. Those discussions will continue. https://t.co/0CG6at3cL0
— Ron Wyden (@RonWyden) June 6, 2023
Bloomberg reported on a letter Crow’s lawyer wrote in response to Sen. Wyden’s request that he answer questions about gifts that he gave Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:
The committee doesn’t have the authority to make demands about Crow’s friendship with Thomas when other sources could provide Congress the information, Crow’s attorney Michael Bopp said in a letter obtained by Bloomberg News. Wyden sent his letter to Crow on May 17.
“A desire to focus on Justice Thomas, not the intricacies of the gift tax, appears to have been the genesis of this Committee inquiry. But ‘there is no congressional power to expose for the sake of exposure,’” Bopp wrote.
Crow’s lawyer is pulling out a version of the Trump witch hunt excuse, but Sen. Wyden does have the authority to both issue subpoenas and obtain individual tax returns.
Since the Senate is considering legislation to deal with the ethical issues in the Supreme Court, Sen. Wyden’s Finance Committee does have the authority to investigate and obtain information.
Senate Democrats aren’t letting the Clarence Thomas scandal go, and not even being a billionaire might be able to stop Harlan Crow from answering questions about his many gifts to Clarence Thomas.
This story originally appeared on Politicususa
