Senate Democrats, you guys have had enough of Supreme Court and all of this corruption and dysfunction. Let's keep it real to Clarence Thomas. Senate Judiciary Committee leaders said that they would vote as soon as November 9 to authorize subpoenas for information on Harlan Crow. From Harlan Crow, Leonard Leo, and Robin Archie II. [00:00:17] And they're involved in paying off some of these folks, so let's jump into this. Senate Judiciary Committee leaders say that they would vote as soon as November 9 to authorize all of that stuff, and one being Harlan Crow. He's a close friend and benefactor to Justice Thomas. And from Leonard Leo, the conservative judicial activist. [00:00:33] Senate Democrats do not need the vote of any Republican on the committee to authorize these subpoenas. No separate vote by the full Senate is also necessary. So it can just happen. Republicans there can't protect their homies, so this is what they're looking to find out. [00:00:48] They're seeking detailed information about the full extent of Crow's gifts to Thomas. News reports about the justice's failure over many years to report private jet travel, real estate deals, and other gifts from Harlan Crow have prompted calls for the Court to strengthen its ethics rules and for [00:01:04] greater transparency about the justice's potential conflicts and recusal decisions. Again, the majority of Americans don't know the things that Clarence Thomas has ruled on, given opinion on, been a part of, that directly affect the people that have paid him, that have taken on these lavish [00:01:21] vacations and have been like best friends with for decades. Just the way these things work. And now maybe we can find out this is all really all this is. So the committee also said Monday that it would also vote to issue a subpoena to conservative donor Robin Archie II. Republica reported that Archey provided Samuel Alito with a free [00:01:40] fishing trip to Alaska in 2008. It was organized by Leo, Alito has defended his decision not to disclose the trip in his annual financial report. So they're all upset, they don't want anything to do with this whole thing. And now this may be something that's gonna maybe push them to have some [00:01:58] level of ethics. It's pretty telling, Jordan, when the folks who are supposed to be the most ethical and lifelong appointments in the country are fighting against being ethical. >> Speaker 2: Yeah, this really represents how broken that institution is, [00:02:14] where we have people with lifetime appointments who are, in their eyes, free from any oversight or scrutiny, especially on issues of ethics. But still have untold power and are able to effectively legislate from the bench, [00:02:31] deprive people of their rights, take rights away from people, give rights to corporations. This is a broken system, and I don't know what would come of any subpoenas rather than just the spectacle on the hill. Maybe we'll get some viral clips. [00:02:47] [LAUGH] We don't really have many mechanisms for them to do anything. You could call for impeachment, Congress could do that. But I don't think they will, I think they're too scared. One thing they should do is pack the court. Water down their votes, water down their influence. [00:03:03] Then suddenly, you won't see Thomas and Alito being on these vacations. You might see more of them going on vacations, but just that could be one way to [LAUGH] limit their power when they're blatantly corrupt. >> Speaker 1: It'll be yacht trips all across the Supreme Court, all 15 of them. [00:03:21] >> [LAUGH] >> Who knows? Who cares? We got a couple more minutes, don't we? A little bit more, I wanna see what Mitch McConnell said, let's go to our thought for this story. Because Mitch McConnell was threatening we mentioned a minute ago Mitch McConnell was threatening fellow Republicans off of this bill when it comes to getting money out of politics. [00:03:37] What does Mitch McConnell have to say about ethics in the Supreme Court? >> Speaker 3: Do you have any reaction to Senator Durban's announcement that the Judiciary Committee is gonna subpoena Harlan Crow, Robin Alito, Leonard Leo as part of a Supreme Court of ethics investigation? [00:03:52] >> Speaker 4: Yeah, well, what he's targeting here is private citizens with no legislative purpose. I think it's completely and totally inappropriate. >> Speaker 1: Private citizens? These are just private citizens. [00:04:08] If you see Clarence Thomas walking down the street, he's just going to his local grocery store to pick up a carton of eggs. He's just a private citizen minding his own damn business, going on lavish vacations that pay for his decisions on the highest court in the country. [00:04:23] He's just a private citizen that has a lifelong appointment and can do whatever the hell he wants. That's all. That's all it is. [MUSIC]