Lindsey Graham, GOP sens threaten with subpoenas over Clarence Thomas ethics investigation

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, and other Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee threatened during a hearing Thursday to subpoena left-wing activist groups to testify amid Democrats’ efforts to investigate Associate Justice Clarence Thomas.

Dick Durbin, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee announced Tuesday that the committee would vote Thursday to subpoena Harlan Crow, a billionaire real estate developer, and Leonard Leo, the co-president of The Federalist Society, to testify about their relationships with Thomas, who has been accused in a series of investigative reports . by ProPublica of unethically accepting gifts from Crow. While the vote on the subpoenas was abruptly canceled, Graham and his colleagues vowed that Republicans would propose subpoenas to left-wing groups in response.

“You better eat breakfast next Thursday, because you’re not going anywhere,” Graham said, referring to the committee’s next meeting on Nov. 9. “You’re trying to create a political issue that I think crosses constitutional boundaries. There are cases on the books that legislative subpoenas must have a valid purpose. So we’re going to have a bunch of subpoenas to answer your subpoena.”

Graham singled out “Demand Justice,” a left-wing activist group he’s looking for to expand the Supreme Court. He accused them of being funded by the interests of the Democratic Party, which indicated that it would investigate when Republicans regain their majority in the Senate.

“We ask for justice. Do you remember them? They are under the Arabella [Advisors] umbrella I don’t know who’s giving them all this money,” Graham said. “They were trashing J. Michelle Childs, who I was going to support for the Supreme Court … somebody on the left with a lot of money wanted to get on the court.” noted, referring to a US appeals judge for the District of Columbia Circuit who was under consideration by President Joe Biden for elevation to the Supreme Court, but was ultimately passed by Ketanji Brown Jackson.

Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas described some of the groups his party would seek to subpoena to testify if Democrats proceed with their subpoenas of Crow and Leo.

“The shoe will be on the other foot one day. Go issue that subpoena. See what happens. When we get the majority back, look at the subpoenas we start issuing for all the left-wing activists and billionaires behind it all your agitprop campaigns, which probably helped fund those left-leaning militias outside the judges’ houses, which helped fund the anti-Semitic wing of the Democratic Party, protesting on college campuses, and even in this complex of the Capitol,” Cotton said.

“You tried to destroy Clarence Thomas, like every time we come back,” Graham said, adding that “from here on out, this committee is going to operate differently.”

“This is a fight you wanted. You’re going to get it.”

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