Today in Corrupt Supreme Court Justices not Named Clarence Thomas

Unlike the case with Clarence Thomas, the conflicts of interest seem to be far more direct.

You see just 9 days after he was confirmed to the Supreme Court, Brian Duffy, the head of the white shoe law firm Greenberg Traurig bought some land that he co-owned, which he had been trying to unload for some time.

Rather suspiciously, Brian Duffy's name was not mentioned in Gorsuch's disclosure forms.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that since Neil Gorshuch was seated Greenberg Traurig has been involved in dozens of cases before the court.

It appears that there is an ethics problem at the court, but don't expect anything to change, Chief Justice John Roberts just told the Senate to go pound sand on their ethics investigation:

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. told Senate leaders Tuesday that he would “respectfully decline” to testify at a Senate hearing focused on the Supreme Court, offering instead a statement signed by all the justices in which they “reaffirm and restate foundational ethics principles and practices” to which they abide.

There did not seem to be new proposals or guidelines in the “Statement on Ethics Principles and Practices.” Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) immediately labeled it insufficient, noting recent revelations about Justice Clarence Thomas that the senator said illustrated the need for more scrutiny.

The Senate Juciciary Committee needs to subpoena John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch. but they can't because Dianne Feinstein* is unable to attend meetings right now, and is not coming back, and her staffers are desperate to maintain the illusion, and the status to go on with their positions, so we won't see a resignation and replacement.

That leaves the executive branch to go and do a deep dive on every single member of the court, including a forensic audit, but Merrick "Slow Walk" Garland would never do that, because pursuing lawbreaking by some of the most powerful people in the country might lead to people thinking that the DoJ is engaging in partisan prosecutions.

Deciding not to prosecute criminals because politicians will talk smack about you is not an exercise in non-partisan integrity, it is craven cowardice.

For nearly two years beginning in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch sought a buyer for a 40-acre tract of property he co-owned in rural Granby, Colo.

Nine days after he was confirmed by the Senate for a lifetime appointment on the Supreme Court, the then-circuit court judge got one: The chief executive of Greenberg Traurig, one of the nation’s biggest law firms with a robust practice before the high court. Gorsuch owned the property with two other individuals.

On April 16 of 2017, Greenberg’s Brian Duffy put under contract the 3,000-square foot log home on the Colorado River and nestled in the mountains northwest of Denver, according to real estate records.

Let's be clear, Gorsuch and his partners could have sold their land in a lot less than 2 years, but they could not get the price that they want.  The head of  Greenberg Traurig paid that price, 9 days after his confirmation.

How convenient.

………

He and his wife closed on the house a month later, paying $1.825 million, according to a deed in the county’s record system. Gorsuch, who held a 20 percent stake, reported making between $250,001 and $500,000 from the sale on his federal disclosure forms.

Gorsuch did not disclose the identity of the purchaser. That box was left blank.

The box was left blank?  How convenient.

Since then, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in at least 22 cases before or presented to the court, according to a POLITICO review of the court’s docket.

At least 22 cases?  How convenient.

………

Duffy, who in addition to serving as CEO is chief of Greenberg’s entire 600-lawyer litigation department, said he has never personally argued cases before Gorsuch or met the justice socially.

“I’ve never spoken to him,” Duffy said. “I’ve never met him.”

Once he learned Gorsuch was among the owners, Duffy said, he cleared the sale with his firm’s ethics department.

His doing a multi-million dollar favor to a Supreme Court Justice and his business partners was cleared by the Greenberg Traurig ethics department?  How convenient.

Gorsuch did not respond to inquiries about the sale, his disclosures or whether he should have reported Duffy’s identity as the purchaser.

He did not respond? How convenient!

………

Unlike Crow, who bought properties from Thomas, Duffy says he is neither a friend nor a confidant of Gorsuch. But he is one of the nation’s most powerful attorneys.

One of the nation’s most powerful attorneys?  How convenient.

………

Gorsuch and his associates purchased the property in 2005 through their LLC, the Walden Group, which was dissolved after the 2017 sale. The home was originally listed, in July of 2015, for $2.495 million. The fact that the property had sat on the market for so long and that its price had been lowered a couple times suggests the partners were having trouble finding a buyer.

How convenient! 

Nothing to see here, move along.

^*Full disclosure, my great grandfather, Harry Goldman, and her grandfather, Sam Goldman were brothers, though we have never met, either in person or electronically.