Scalia, Thomas accused of conflict of interest
Campaign finance at issue, group says
WASHINGTON – A government watchdog group alleges that two of the Supreme Court’s most conservative members had a conflict of interest when they considered a controversial case last year that permitted corporate funds to be used directly in political campaigns.
Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas are the subject of an unusual letter delivered Wednesday by Common Cause asking the U.S. Justice Department to look into whether the jurists should have disqualified themselves from hearing the campaign finance case if they had attended a private meeting sponsored by Charles and David Koch, billionaires who fund conservative causes. A Supreme Court spokesperson said Thursday that the two justices did not participate in the Koch brothers’ private meetings, though Thomas did “drop by.”
If it believes there is a conflict, the Justice Department, as a party to the case, should ask the court to reconsider its decision, Common Cause said.
The landmark case, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, was decided a year ago this week. It permitted corporate and union funds to be spent directly on election advertising, a practice that had previously been restricted. The Kochs have been significant donors to independent-expenditure campaigns, which increased dramatically after the Citizens United decision.
The letter is based in part on references to Scalia and Thomas made in an invitation to an upcoming meeting this month of elite conservative leaders sponsored by the Kochs. The invitation, first obtained by the liberal blog Think Progress, names the two justices among luminaries who have attended the closed Koch meetings at unspecified dates in the past.
Some legal scholars dismiss the complaint as unlikely to succeed. But others said raising the issue could engender useful scrutiny of judicial independence.
Steven Gillers, a legal ethics specialist at New York University, said the Kochs’ use of Scalia’s and Thomas’ names for the upcoming meeting was “troubling.”
“I believe the nation has a right to know exactly what role if any the justices played in the Koch gatherings, including the content of any remarks they made and whether Citizens United was a subject of any gathering they attended,” Gillers said.