Senate Panel Approves Subpoena of Billionaire Harlan Crow in Supreme Court Ethics Probe

The Democrat-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee voted—after three previous postponements—to subpoena two private citizens connected to conservative Supreme Court justices, as part of probe of gifts and personal hospitality provided to members of the nation’s highest court. The roll call vote of 11–10 went along party lines and came at the conclusion of a rancorous two-hour committee business meeting on Nov. 30. Republicans accused Democrats of abusing their power on the committee and of trying to delegitimize the Supreme Court because its current conservative-leaning majority has issued decisions that Democrats don’t like. The committee authorized subpoenas for billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow and conservative activist Leonard Leo in connection with the committee’s ongoing Supreme Court ethics investigation. Committee chairman Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) has said the two have refused to cooperate with the ongoing probe....