(BrightPress.org) – Senate Democrats are continuing their ethics investigation into the Supreme Court after reports from the spring indicated that the justices were getting undisclosed benefits like free vacations and private school tuition for their children. Critics maintain the benefits may have unduly influenced SCOTUS decisions. At the same time, defenders of the Court suggest the investigations are a pretext to delegitimize unpopular court decisions like the overturning of Roe v Wade.
Durbin called the situation “an ethical crisis” and blamed the SCOTUS for taking “undisclosed gifts” which may have given the givers “privileged access” to justices and unduly influenced the court’s decisions.
Durbin complained that prior requests for information from Republican donors like Leonard Leo, Robin Arkley, and Harlan Crow “fell short” of what he believed the Senate Judiciary Committee required to complete its investigation. He further explained his belief that they were “entitled” to the information.
Durbin railed on justices who joined billionaires for vacations on their private jets and yachts for failing to disclose the gifts. Crow covered vacations for and bought a property from Justice Clarence Thomas. Arkley and Leo organized and purchased a vacation for Justice Samuel Alito.
Durbin complained that Chief Justice John Roberts could address the issue immediately by updating a binding code of conduct for justices. Durbin said he intends to continue investigations in Congress until Roberts complies with his demands.
Legal counsel for Leo said that Durbin “never acknowledged” their communications to his office where they argued Durbin was attacking the First Amendment rights of their client and explained why he was refusing to cooperate.
Leo told Fox News Digital that he would never comply with “disgusting liberal McCarthyism” and said the Democrats were seeking to “destroy the Supreme Court.”
Crow said he was disappointed that the Senate was engaged in partisan politics instead of seeking a reasonable compromise. He further said that they offered “extensive information” to the Committee which was ignored.
Copyright 2023, BrightPress.org
(RepublicanNews.org) – An October 30th ruling from a federal judge will at least temporarily prohibit the Biden administration from snipping concertina wire erected by Texas officials along the state’s border with Mexico. The barriers, which were initially installed by National Guard troops on orders from Governor Abbott, were meant to combat illegal alien crossings.
Following the Lone Star State’s September installation of a floating barrier in the middle of the Rio Grande adjacent to the town of Eagle Pass, Texas officials became involved in a tit-for-tat back and forth of sorts with the White House. Conservative pundits and voters by and large viewed the obstructions as necessary and their liberal counterparts saw them as inhumane.
Another federal judge ordered that the floating impediment be removed shortly after it was deployed. Gov. Abbott’s response shortly thereafter was to simply begin installing razor wire in a number of locations. Upon apparent orders from the White House, officials with the Department of Homeland Security began targeting the razor wire barriers.
Agents were seen cutting and in some cases removing the obstructions altogether. Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, filed suit against the federal government and argued that the Biden administration had illegally given DHS agents the authority to engage in the destruction of property that belonged to the State of Texas.
Judge Alia Moses of Texas’ Western District sided with AG Paxton and ordered the DHS to cease what she said was their disassembling, degradation, and altering of the state’s Rio Grande-adjacent razor wire installations. Paxton noted in his injunction request that what began as a DHS operation with bolt cutters quickly escalated to “industrial-strength forklifts” being used to completely dismantle the Texas border fence.
The AG cited a particular instance in which he said agents ripped the fence completely up and out of the desert ground and held it up while waving “well over 300” illegal migrants underneath it and into the state.
Copyright 2023, RepublicanNews.org
