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☆ Supreme Court Justice Alito sold Bud Light stock, then bought Coors during boycott
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-20 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

United States Supreme Court Associate Justice Samuel Alito poses for an official portrait at the East Conference Room of the Supreme Court building on October 7, 2022 in Washington, DC. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito sold shares of beer giant Anheuser-Busch InBev as conservatives were ditching the Bud Light brewer over its partnership with a transgender social media influencer . The Supreme Court did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment on Alito's transaction report or the timing of his stock activity. In May 2023, Modelo replaced Bud Light as the top-selling beer in the U.S. Data from around that time showed sales of Bud Light had dropped nearly 25% year over year. Roth noted that the beer companies in question have no pending business before the Supreme Court that he can think of.

Persons: Samuel Alito, Alito, Bud Light, Busch, influencer Dylan Mulvaney, Mulvaney, —, Martha, Ann Alito, Gabe Roth, " Roth, Roth Organizations: East, Anheuser, Busch, Molson Coors, Supreme, Busch InBev, Bud, Modelo, InBev, Coors, Blacks, New York Times, Trump, U.S . Capitol, Times, CNBC, Bud Light Locations: Washington , DC, U.S

☆ Why the Trump trials should be on camera
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( Zachary Wolf | Analysis Zachary B. Wolf | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +9 min

CNN —If you were to dream up a hypothetical case that demanded cameras in federal courts, it would be United States of America v. Donald J. Trump. The importance the coming four criminal trials will play in the 2024 election cannot be overstated. Supreme Court justices, as we’ve previously written in this newsletter, frequently endorse the idea of cameras in the courtroom right up until they get that lifetime Supreme Court appointment. In the Senate, there is a bipartisan proposal to require the Supreme Court to allow cameras in its courtroom. That’s not exactly what we’re talking about with the criminal trials of Trump in the lower federal court, but it does suggest bipartisan openness to the issue of making courts more transparent.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Arthur Engoron, it’s, —, Biden, ”, Tanya Chutkan, Chutkan, Laura Coates, “, Jack Smith, Gabe Roth, John Roberts, Mike Johnson, That’s Organizations: CNN, Trump, he’s, New, The New York Times, Siena College, Washington , D.C, Media, Broadcasting, Judicial Conference, Supreme Locations: United States, America, New York, Georgia, Washington ,, —, Arizona , Georgia, Michigan, Nevada , Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington , DC

CNN —Justice Clarence Thomas disclosed Thursday that Republican megadonor Harlan Crow paid for private jet trips for Thomas in 2022 to attend a speech in Texas and a vacation at Crow’s luxurious New York estate, as ethics questions continue to rock the Supreme Court. Thomas made the disclosures after receiving an extension to file the yearly reports that were originally due in May 2023. In a statement after the ProPublica report, Thomas acknowledged the friendship but stressed that Crow did not have business before the court. In addition, he said that he should have disclosed a 2014 private real estate deal between Crow, Thomas and members of Thomas’ family. According to the disclosure, Thomas flew down to be the keynote speaker of the event in February, but returned via private jet “due to an unexpected ice storm.”The talk was rescheduled in May and Thomas rode round trip on Crow’s plane.

Persons: Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Dobbs, Roe, Wade, “, Crow, Samuel Alito, ProPublica, Thomas ’, ” Thomas, Virginia Thomas, Leola Williams, Williams, VII, –, Elliot S, Berke, Thomas “, ”, Sen, Sheldon Whitehouse, Chip Somodevilla, Elena Kagan, Alito, ” Alito, Gabe Roth, he’s, ” Roth, Rome Alito, Duke Organizations: CNN, Republican, Judicial Conference, Old Parkland Conference, Hoover Institution, Manhattan Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Black Americans, Crow Holdings, Democrats, Supreme, Capitol, Rhode Island, Wall Street, Notre Dame, School’s, Liberty Initiative, Religious Liberty Summit, Regent University School of Law, Duke Law School Locations: Texas, New York, Georgia, Savannah , Georgia, Washington ,, Rome

Corporate execs and lawyers with business before the Supreme Court mingled with some of the country's most influential jurists. Revelations about Thomas and Crow's relationship have prompted calls in Congress for the Supreme Court to adopt its first-ever binding code of ethics. But as a Supreme Court justice, Kagan is not currently bound by those rules. The Aspen Institute isn't alone in dangling Supreme Court access to lure deep-pocketed donors. Financial support for a public mission flowed one way, and scheduled private time with Supreme Court justices was dispensed in return.

Persons: Meryl Chertoff, Kagan, Michael Chertoff, SCOTUS, Elena Kagan, execs, Brett Kavanaugh, Trump, Kavanaugh, Clarence Thomas, Harlan Crow, Thomas, Kathleen Clark, Louis, Clark, Kavanaugh —, Shook, Hardy, Bacon, Tristan Duncan, Peabody, Christina Sullivan, Brian O'Connor, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lakhani, That's, litigator, George W, Bush, Michael Chertoff's, wasn't, he'd, Chertoff, John Roberts, Gabe Roth, Roth, Crow, Rob Schenck, Tom Monaghan, Jay Sekulow, Sidney Powell —, Sonia Sotomayor's, that's Organizations: Service, Aspen Institute, DC, Aspen, Washington University, Peabody Energy, Peabody, Duncan, Speedway, Supreme, Aspen Institute's Justice, Society, Homeland Security, Chertoff, CNN, The New York Times, Historical Society, Trump, Associated Press, University of Colorado Law School Locations: Wall, Silicon, St, Washington, Pakistan, Chertoff, Aspen Institute isn't

☆ Thomas revelation fits a broader pattern of nondisclosure
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Washington CNN —The recent revelations of lavish gifts and travel that a Republican megadonor showered on Justice Clarence Thomas reflect a larger Supreme Court culture of nondisclosure, little explanation, and no comment. The incident reflects the broader lack of accountability at the high court regarding off-bench behavior. Justices regularly brush aside reporters’ queries for specifics on travel and gifts, book advances and other extracurricular activities. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin made another such plea to Roberts this week as he also urged the chief justice to open an investigation into Thomas’ conduct. Chief justice on the spotRoberts, who became chief justice in 2005, has continually described the high court as beyond the realm of politics and worthy of public trust.

The news outlet said the frequency of the gifts have "no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court." Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "This cries out for the kind of independent investigation that the Supreme Court — and only the Supreme Court, across the entire government — refuses to perform," Whitehouse said on Twitter. The ProPublica report is the latest revelation to prompt ethics concerns about Thomas. Thomas's failure to report the trips provided by Crow appears to violate a federal law requiring justices, judges and other federal officials disclose most gifts, ProPublica reported, citing legal ethics experts.

The report said investigators interviewed 97 court employees but was silent on whether the nine justices who sat on the court at the time of the leak were interviewed, prompting calls from Democratic lawmakers and others for clarity. "During the course of the investigation, I spoke with each of the justices, several on multiple occasions," Curley said in the statement, released by the court. "I followed up on all credible leads, none of which implicated the justices or their spouses," Curley added. Curley said on that basis she decided it was not necessary to ask the justices to sign sworn affidavits affirming they did not leak the draft, something court employees were required to do. Gabe Roth, executive director of the court reform group Fix the Court, said the fact that the report initially omitted the fact that the justices were interviewed "smells fishy."

☆ How Anti-Abortion Activists Bought Access to the Supreme Court
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-07 | by ( Katherine Long | Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +29 min

In exchange for as little as a few thousand dollars in contributions to the nonprofit, these people received easy access to events where Supreme Court justices would be. Supreme Court Historical society trustee Jay Sekulow, center, represented President Trump during the latter's impeachment trial in 2020. Anti-abortion advocates cheer in front of the Supreme Court after the decision in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores was announced in 2014. Alito did not respond to a request for comment on his involvement in the Supreme Court Historical Society. Supreme Court justices, though, aren't even required to stay within those weak guardrails because no code of ethics governs justices' behavior.

☆ What to know about a judicial privacy bill Congress is passing with a major defense package
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-14 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +11 min

But the legislation is also rankling court watchdogs who contend the bill could complicate efforts to scrutinize the judicial branch for ethics issues. The bill does not displace the ethical disclosure requirements judges already face, the congressional aide noted to CNN. And it extends the threat-monitoring programs that are being offered to Article III judges to administrative judges as well. Now that the bill has been added to the National Defense Authorization Act, a massive defense package that Congress passes annually, Paul’s options for scuttling it are limited. “Because, if I am sued, someone is going to be bringing it to a federal judge.

☆ Inside the new database disclosing judicial wealth and potential conflicts, from Justice Neil Gorsuch's $700 cowboy boots to Justice John Roberts' Irish cottage
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Jack Newsham | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

One judge disclosed a six-figure investment in cryptocurrency. Those judges' financial lives, and more than 400 others, are laid bare in a new federal database that went live this month. Litigants looking for potential conflicts of interest, and pretty much anybody else, can see what federal judges own, who they owe, what side hustles they have, and what their spouses do. And while private-sector 401(k) plans need to be disclosed, federal employee retirement plans, known as thrift savings plans, don't. It only includes 2021 financial disclosures, and users who want information about previous years' disclosures will have to submit their requests manually.

☆ Nancy Pelosi's congressional stock trading ban has a massive blind trust loophole and is too broad, ethics experts warn
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Bryan Metzger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

But ethics experts say the bill has a major loophole when it comes to blind trusts, and is too broad. Broadly speaking, a blind trust is a financial arrangement wherein people turn over their assets to be managed by an independent entity to prevent a conflict of interest. Several previously-introduced bills to ban stock trading allow for lawmakers to place their stocks into a blind trust, rather than fully selling off existing stock holdings. "You'd be able to create any kind of a trust you want to, put anything you want into it, and call it a blind trust, even though there wouldn't actually be any way to prove that it is, in fact, a blind trust." Payne also said the blind trust loophole was a "small risk," but that in an optimistic scenario, "that language allows this law to grow for future circumstances that you just can't be prepared for."

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