Carolyn Custer/Associated Press
Leonard Leo, then executive vice president of the Federalist Society, speaks to the media at Trump Tower on November 16, 2016 in New York.
CNN
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Senate Democrats on Thursday issued subpoenas to conservative legal advocates investigating the Supreme Court following a series of ethics controversies over lavish travel and gifts to judges.
Months after voting to approve the subpoena, the Senate Judiciary Committee formally issued a subpoena to Leonard Leo, said committee chairman Dick Durbin. Democrats say the subpoenas are needed to better understand whether certain individuals or groups used undisclosed gifts to gain access to judges.
“Mr. Leo plays a central role in the ethics crisis plaguing the Supreme Court and, unlike other recipients of information requested in this matter, has done nothing but obstruct the committee.” ” Durbin said in a statement to CNN. “This subpoena is a direct result of Mr. Leo’s own actions and choices.”
Mr. Leo, a prominent conservative legal advocate and co-chairman of the board of the influential Federalist Society, acknowledged Thursday that he had been served with a subpoena and vowed not to respond. In a statement to CNN, Leo called the subpoenas “illegal” and “politically motivated,” calling them “a leftist black-finance effort to silence and cancel political opposition.” “I have no intention of surrendering,” he said.
Leo’s lawyer, David Rivkin, sent a letter to Durbin, claiming that he has “failed to respond” to an “unlawful and politically motivated subpoena.”
In November, the committee approved subpoenas for Mr. Leo and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow in response to revelations about trips accepted by several Supreme Court justices, including Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. was passed along party lines.
According to a series of ProPublica reports, Mr. Crowe paid for Mr. Thomas’ lavish travel expenses, which were not initially listed on the judge’s financial disclosure reports. According to a report from ProPublica, Leo arranged a fishing trip in 2008 that included Alito. Alito similarly did not report the trip on his financial statements.
It’s unclear why Mr. Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, waited months between voting to approve the subpoena and actually issuing it.
A committee vote last fall broke down in partisan hatred as Republicans accused Democrats of playing politics and walked out of the hearing. If Mr. Leo ultimately fails to comply, Democrats could be forced to hold a vote and muster 60 votes in a divided chamber to force it.
