{"id":2085897,"date":"2023-10-31T20:01:01","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:01:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-decries-subpoenas-of-thomas-and-alito-associates-as-totally-inappropriate\/"},"modified":"2023-10-31T20:02:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T00:02:57","slug":"mcconnell-decries-subpoenas-of-thomas-and-alito-associates-as-totally-inappropriate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-decries-subpoenas-of-thomas-and-alito-associates-as-totally-inappropriate\/","title":{"rendered":"McConnell slams subpoenas of Thomas and Alito associates as &#8216;inappropriate&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmcconnell-decries-subpoenas-of-thomas-and-alito-associates-as-totally-inappropriate%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2085897&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Sen. McConnell \u200cCondemns Subpoenaing of Supreme Court Justices&#8217; Associates<\/h2>\n<p>Senate Judiciary Committee\u2063 Chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), recently announced that the committee would be issuing subpoenas \u200cto two conservative billionaires and a conservative activist who\u2062 have close ties to Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. However, \u200bSen. McConnell (R-KY) strongly objected to this move, arguing that these individuals are private citizens.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What he&#8217;s targeting here\u200b is private citizens with no legislative purpose,&#8221; McConnell expressed his\u2062 concerns to\u2064 reporters on Tuesday. &#8220;I think it&#8217;s \u200bcompletely and \u2063totally inappropriate.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>One of the \u200cassociates being subpoenaed is Harlan Crow, \u2063a longtime friend of Justice Thomas, who has been at the center of reports revealing financial transactions involving Thomas and his family.\u200c Another two associates, Robin Arkley and Leonard Leo, allegedly contributed \u200bto a fishing trip taken by Justice Alito in 2008. Both Thomas and Alito have denied any violations of ethics rules.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In order to adequately address this crisis, it is imperative that we understand the full extent \u200bof\u200b how people with interests before the Court \u200dare able to\u200c use <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/clarence-thomas-responds-to-accusations-about-undisclosed-gifts-amid-outcry\/\" title=\"Clarence Thomas responds to accusations about undisclosed gifts amid outcry\">undisclosed gifts<\/a> to gain private access to\u2063 the justices,&#8221; stated Durbin and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) in a joint \u200cstatement.<\/p>\n<p>Conservatives have\u200c strongly rejected this investigation, led by Senate Democrats, deeming it politically motivated and arguing that Congress has no constitutional basis for interfering in the affairs of the judicial\u2064 branch. Thomas and Alito maintain\u200c that they have complied with reporting guidelines.\u200c Leonard \u2062Leo, in response to the subpoena against \u200bhim, expressed his outrage.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I will not bow \u200bto the\u2064 vile and disgusting liberal McCarthyism that seeks to\u200b destroy the \u200bSupreme Court simply because\u200c it follows the Constitution rather than their political agenda,&#8221; declared\u200c Leo, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-officials-say-investigation-into-deadly-nitrogen-leak-at-poultry-plant-could-take-years\/\" title=\"Ga. officials say investigation into deadly nitrogen leak at poultry plant could take years\">board chairman<\/a> of the influential conservative Federalist Society.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<h2> What concerns does Sen. McConnell have about the Senate Judiciary Committee&#8217;s actions towards private citizens?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  Sen. \u2064McConnell, the Republican Senator from Kentucky\u200b and Senate Minority Leader, has\u200b strongly \u2063condemned the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-appeals-court-rules-against-biden-vaccine-mandate-for-federal-workers\/\" title=\"Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Biden Vaccine Mandate For Federal Workers\">recent decision made<\/a> by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Sen. Dick Durbin, to issue subpoenas to two \u200bconservative\u2064 billionaires and\u200c a conservative activist associated with Supreme Court Justices\u2062 Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. McConnell argues that\u200b these individuals are private citizens and should not be targeted in this way.<\/p>\n<p>McConnell expressed his concerns to reporters \u2062on Tuesday, stating, &#8220;What he&#8217;s targeting here is private citizens with no legislative purpose. I \u200cthink it&#8217;s completely and totally inappropriate.&#8221; McConnell believes that this move by the Senate Judiciary Committee is\u200d unjust and lacks constitutional grounding.<\/p>\n<p>Among\u200b those being subpoenaed \u2062is Harlan Crow, a close friend of Justice Thomas, \u200dwho has been involved in reports suggesting \u200dfinancial transactions involving Thomas and his family. Another two associates, Robin Arkley and Leonard \u200dLeo, allegedly contributed to a fishing trip taken by Justice Alito\u200c in 2008. Both Thomas and Alito have consistently denied any violations of ethics rules.<\/p>\n<p>Sen. Durbin\u200d and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse,\u200c a Democrat from Rhode Island, \u200dreleased a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-regulators-say-they-already-have-power-to-crack-down-on-ai-misuse-warn-firms-to-comply-with-laws\/\" title=\"US Regulators Say They Already Have Power to Crack Down on AI Misuse, Warn Firms to Comply With Laws\">joint statement asserting<\/a> that \u200da comprehensive understanding of how individuals with interests before \u2062the Court utilize undisclosed gifts to gain private access to \u200dthe justices is necessary in \u200dorder to address \u2064this potential crisis.<\/p>\n<p>However, conservatives have vehemently rejected \u2064this investigation, viewing it as \u2064politically motivated \u2063and arguing that Congress has no constitutional basis\u2062 for interfering\u2062 in the affairs of the judicial branch. Thomas and Alito have consistently maintained that they have complied with reporting guidelines.\u200c Leonard Leo, the board chairman of the\u200d influential conservative Federalist Society,\u2062 expressed his outrage at the \u2064subpoena \u200cissued against him, \u200bdenouncing it as &#8220;vile and \u200ddisgusting liberal McCarthyism&#8221; that seeks to undermine the Supreme Court for its adherence to \u2062the \u200bConstitution rather than a political agenda.<\/p>\n<p>The controversy surrounding the subpoenaing of Supreme Court Justices&#8217; \u2064associates reflects the ongoing\u2062 struggle between \u200cDemocrats and Republicans over the judicial branch&#8217;s role and influence. Both <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mcconnell-decries-subpoenas-of-thomas-and-alito-associates-as-totally-inappropriate\/\" title=\"McConnell slams subpoenas of Thomas and Alito associates as 'inappropriate'\">sides hold firm<\/a> to their beliefs,\u200b but it remains\u200c to be seen how this investigation will unfold and whether it will lead to any concrete findings or actions. In the meantime, the \u2064divide between the two parties on this issue is likely\u200d to persist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sen. McConnell (R-KY) criticized the Senate Judiciary Committee&#8217;s decision to subpoena associates of Justices Thomas and Alito. Chairman Durbin (D-IL) recently announced the committee&#8217;s plan to subpoena two conservative billionaires and one activist linked to the justices. McConnell voiced his opposition to this move.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2085898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2085897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2085897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2085898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2085897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2085897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2085897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}