Tim Parlatore, a former lawyer for former President Trump, said Friday he believes Supreme Court justices accepting lavish gifts and vacations “tarnishes the image of impartiality” and called on Congress to act.
Parlatore joined CNN’s Abby Phillip and The Nation’s Elie Mystal to discuss revelations from the justices’ financial disclosure reports released earlier this week.
“I have represented several senior executive branch officials with Office of Government Ethics investigations,” Parlatore said in the interview, highlighted by Mediaite. “Military officers may only accept gifts up to $20. NYPD officers, they get written up if they take a free cup of coffee.
“You know, there are rules for federal judges that limit the gift they can get to $50, but the Supreme Court is specifically exempt,” he added.
The conversation turned to one judge in particular, Judge Clarence Thomas.
In his latest financial filing, Thomas amended a 2019 report to include two trips he took that were paid for by billionaire Harlan Crow. The trips were made public after an investigation by ProPublica raised questions about his ability to remain impartial.
Data released Thursday by the watchdog group Fix the Court shows that Supreme Court justices have received nearly $5 million in gifts since 2004, but Thomas accounted for $4 million of that.
The list of gifts comes after Democrats called on Judge Samuel Alito to recuse himself from January 6 and Trump-related cases currently before the court, in light of reports that a “Stop the Steal” flag was raised after the attack on the capital. Alito refused calls to recuse himself.
It was also revealed on Friday that Beyoncé gave four free concert tickets to Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson last year.
Both recent reports have focused attention on the Supreme Court and the possible partisan influence it has on the cases it hears.
When the news first came to light, lawmakers stepped up efforts to revise the Supreme Court’s ethics codes. Although the Supreme Court issued new guidelines late last year, it has done little to appease Democrats.
In Friday’s interview, Parlatore said any time judges “accept these large gifts” it is an “appearance of impropriety.”
“It is something that, in my opinion, tarnishes the image of impartiality,” he said.
Parlatore also seemed to echo the concerns of Democrats who are pressuring Congress to act and “try to implement reasonable regulation.”
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