Mr President one on the topic of importance for more than a year story after story has broken about the ethical misconduct by sitting Supreme Court Justices we're talking about the highest court in the land the nine men and women sitting on the Supreme Court who were not governed by the same rules of conduct and ethical standards as every other federal judge in America they want special treatment Justice Clarence Thomas has been at the center of many of these stories for decades decades he has accepted lavish gifts and luxury trips from a gaggle of fawning billionaires the total dollar value we estimate for these gifts accepted by Clarence Thomas by and large never disclose is $4 million get that Supreme Court Justice highest court in the land life and death decisions every day and he's receiving $4 million in gifts that he doesn't disclose Justice Thomas has failed to disclose the vast majority of these gifts in clear violation of financial disclosure requirements under federal law late last week another story broke I'm hesitant to raise this story because it involves Justice Thomas's spouse but I can no longer avoid the obvious she is a political activist and her activism raises serious ethical questions according to public reporting Justice Thomas's wife Jenny sent an email to Kelly Shackleford who runs the first Liberty Institute this right-wing organization which is on The Advisory Board of project 2025 which we're learning more about frequently litigates before The Supreme Court and strongly oppos the Supreme Court ethics reform in her email Clarence Thomas's wife Jenny thanked the organization for its opposition to court reform ethical reform writing all in caps quote you guys have filled the sales of many judges can I just tell you thank you so so so much when I asked about her efforts to overturn the 2020 election Jenny Thomas told Congress that she and Justice Thomas just don't discuss each other's work that's a little hard to believe isn't it when you see this missive that she sent to this organization her comments on behalf of Judges create a clear appearance of impropriety for Justice Clarence Thomas accordingly called for justice Thomas to recuse himself from any future case involving first Liberty Institute this is not the first time that Jenny Thomas's actions have raised serious questions about her husband Justice Clarence Thomas ability to fairly hear cases before The Supreme Court Jenny Thomas is a political operative who regularly works with right-wing groups on issues being litigated before the court and it isn't a volunteer work in many instances she is a political op operative who works with these groups that litigate issues before The Supreme Court before her husband Clarence Thomas Federal Law requires the disqualification of a Supreme Court Justice in any proceeding in which the Justice impartiality might reasonably be questioned and the Supreme Court's own code of conduct reiterates that Supreme Court Justices should disqualify themselves in cases when there's Reasonable Doubt about impartiality despite serious questions about Justice Thomas's impartial in numerous cases he refuses to recuse himself during the Court's most recent term he continued to hear cases related to the January 6th Insurrection despite Jenny Thomas his wife's personal involvement with efforts to overturn the 2020 election and just as Thomas's failure to recuse is not his only ethical failure related to his wife's activities for years Justice Thomas omitted his wife's income from the right-wing Heritage Foundation from his annual Financial disclosure despite having disclosed her income in some previous yearses in other words he wasn't even consistent and as I mentioned earlier Justin Thomas's ethical issues extend far beyond his wife's employment and advocacy he's repeatedly violated the federal law by failing to report gifts and income from a wide range of sources in his financial disclosure how do we know this about Justice Clarence Thomas because the Senate Judiciary Committee sent out a subpoenas and the subpoenas resulted in cooperation from some of the people who gave him these gifts they gave us the details of what they've provided in the past and he failed to disclose over and over again he's compounded that failure by repeatedly failing to recuse himself in cases involving the same individuals and groups lavishing these gifts upon him I get it they're sending these gifts to curen Thomas who's sitting as a judge in cases that mean a lot to them monetarily more than 12 years ago 12 years ago I called on chief justice Roberts to adopt a binding code of conduct for all Supreme Court Justices 12 years ago since then repeated ethical misconduct by Supreme Court justices have proven that an unenforceable code of conduct is absolutely worthless and an enforceable one is essential to restoring public confidence however chief justice Roberts refuses to use his power to do so what is he waiting for I call on each and every Supreme Court Justice if you agree with Clarence Thomas declare it that you have no responsibility to disclose your gifts or to recuse yourself from cases where there's a conflict but if you think you're fed up with the reputation of a court that lacks integrity and you want to do something about it speak up publicly on behalf of the court and on behalf of the nation we'll continue in Congress to do our part but some leadership from Chief Justice Roberts and members of the Court could sure make a difference I you have the floor