Conservative legal activist Leonard Leo declined to turn over details on any travel, gifts, or payments involving Supreme Court justices, instead decrying the request from the Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats as"political retaliation."
The lawmakers sought by Tuesday an itemized list of gifts and payments from Leo or groups he is associated with stemming years ago and related to any high court justices he associates with. "For similar reasons, your inquiry cannot be reconciled with the Equal Protection component of the Due Process clause of the Fifth Amendment. And regardless of its other constitutional infirmities, it appears that your investigation lacks a valid legislative purpose, because the legislation the Committee is considering would be unconstitutional if enacted," lawyer David B. Rivkin, Jr. wrote in the Tuesday letter.
Another example explained that retired Justice Stephen Breyer accepted more than 200 trips"paid for by private individuals," such as a 2013 trip to Nantucket that was financed by a billionaire. ProPublica's reporting on the justices began earlier this year with a revelation that Justice Clarence Thomas failed to disclose multiple trips financed by wealthy GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.
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