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From the Washington Examiner: Supreme Court justices and federal judges will not be required to file public disclosure records when they eat or stay at someone else’s personal residence, according to a recent rule revision from the federal judiciary’s policymaking arm.
The U.S. Judicial Conference’s Committee on Financial Disclosure announced the newly revised ethics rule Monday. It alters certain disclosure requirements for Supreme Court justices and federal judges, allowing them to avoid reporting stays or meals at personal residences even if the property is owned by a business entity. The updated rule amends a 2023 regulation that made it more difficult to avoid reporting gifts, meals, and trips.
The revision this week comes amid partisan scrutiny of the judiciary’s ethics practices, provoked in part by Democrats dissatisfied with the 6-3 Republican-appointed majority on the Supreme Court. Many of these ethical gripes have resulted in critics targeting Justice Clarence Thomas over his vacations and stays at properties owned by his friend, Dallas-based real estate magnate Harlan Crow.
Under the new rules, judges, including members of the high court, will not be required to disclose whether they stayed or dined at a friend’s home or property. However, transportation gifts, such as travel aboard a private aircraft, will likely still need disclosure.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a leftist group that tried to remove former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot, is already complaining about the rule change.
“The Judicial Conference just changed the rules to allow justices to not disclose when they dine or stay at someone’s residence. That’s a loophole tailor-made for Clarence Thomas. And it’s the *last* thing we need in the midst of this ethics crisis,” CREW fumed.
The Judicial Conference just changed the rules to allow justices to not disclose when they dine or stay at someone’s residence.
That’s a loophole tailor-made for Clarence Thomas. And it’s the *last* thing we need in the midst of this ethics crisis. https://t.co/3do2GxqH5h
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) September 24, 2024
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