Justice could be subject to a federal investigation over undisclosed gifts that he accepted from donors, according to former Deputy Director . Thomas has been under immense scrutiny since that the conservative justice had failed to disclose luxury travel expenses and other forms of gifts from his wealthy friends, including prominent GOP donor Harlan Crow. Details of Thomas' benefits were first reported in April 2023 by ProPublica, which estimates that the gifts' total value adds up to millions of dollars.
Democrats have pressed for expanded oversight of the Supreme Court in light of reports on Thomas' gifts. Democratic Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden in July seeking an ethics investigation pertaining to Thomas. The lawmakers specifically asked Garland to investigate a $267,000 loan that the justice used to purchase a luxury motor coach in 1999, which was not reported by Thomas at the time.
McCabe broke down what it would take for the federal government to launch an ethics or financial investigation of Thomas while speaking with legal analyst Allison Gill on the pair's weekly podcast, which follows the (DOJ) probes of former President . McCabe noted in an episode released Sunday that the FBI can open a full field investigation if "information that a federal crime has been committed or that a threat to national security ..
. might exist." "There's no law or policy that prohibits DOJ from doing that," McCabe continued.
"In fact, they are tasked with investigating and prosecuting violations of federal law. This could easily be that, and so it would fall well within their authority to do it. But it would be very, very, very controversial.
" Whitehouse and Wyden's letter had specifically raised questions about potential tax violations that Thomas may have committed in connection to the luxury motor coach loan. Wyden's office previously reported that Thomas never repaid the over quarter-of-a-million dollar loan, raising questions on whether the justice reported the loan's apparent forgiveness on his tax returns, as required by law. "The tax case is both good and bad," McCabe explained, noting that the IRS would have investigative jurisdiction over such accusations and that the office is "statutory in nature.
" "If you're doing a criminal investigation, and you want to get someone's tax records, it's very complicated, even as an FBI agent with a fully predicated investigation," he added. "You don't just go to IRS and say, 'Hey, give me this dude's records,' like you basically can do with any other government record. You actually have to have an order from a federal judge requiring the IRS to hand it over.
" McCabe also noted that Thomas' potential failure to fill out a financial disclosure form regarding the loan "would likely not give rise to an articulable violation of federal criminal law unless passed the law requiring." He added that Whitehouse and Wyden's letter to the DOJ was likely "performative or political in nature," given the complexities of the accusations against Thomas. Legal experts that it was unlikely that Garland would agree to open an investigation into the Supreme Court justice, even though Fordham Law School professor Bruce Green said that the "provide a strong case on the facts for opening a criminal investigation of Justice Thomas.
" Green told that if Garland opened an investigation, "that would undermine public respect for the legitimacy of the Department of Justice. The Attorney General is unlikely to risk the legitimacy of his own institution to protect the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. He will leave it to Chief Justice Roberts and the other justices to keep their house in order.
" Indiana University's Maure School of Law professor Charles Gardner Geyh also told last month that the "situation is complicated by the fact that there are good reasons to pursue an investigation that coincide with political ones." reached out to the Supreme Court's public information office via email for comment on Monday..
