Much debate has swirled in recent years about disclosure requirements and ethical codes for sitting U.S. Supreme Court justices, and the recent release of an investigatory report is only likely to fuel further discussion.

As the Associated Press reports, a probe conducted by a group of Democrat lawmakers for nearly two years has revealed new details of luxury travel accepted by at least one justice on the high court, prompting additional calls for reform.

Democrats release findings

It was on Saturday that the Democrat majority on the Senate Judiciary Committee released a 93-page report of the aforementioned investigation, offering new insights about claimed ethical lapses.

The panel reportedly found additional instances of travel taken by conservative Justice Clarence Thomas back in 2021.

Those trips included a private jet journey to the Adirondack mountains as well as another set of jet and yacht travels to New York City, made possible by the generosity of Thomas family friend and noted billionaire Harland Crow.

According to the panel, these travels were not reported on Thomas' annual financial disclosure forms, adding to the two dozen instances, according to the panel, in which he accepted luxurious travel and hospitality from wealthy individuals.

The Democrats' report was not limited to Thomas' supposed ethical missteps, as it also delved into supposed scandals involving Justice Samuel Alito and the flying of allegedly controversial flags at his residences in the wake of the 2020 election, as CNN notes.

Battle lines drawn

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL), who chairs the panel, said in response to the findings, “Now more than ever before, as a result of information gathered by subpoenas, we know the extent to which the Supreme Court is mired in an ethical crisis of its own making.”

He went on, “It's clear that the justices are losing the trust of the American people at the hands of a gaggle of fawning billionaires” and called for an enforceable code of ethics to be implemented for the justices to follow.

Speaking in defense of Thomas in particular was attorney Mark Paoletta, who declared the report as one that simply targeted conservatives who issued rulings with which the panel majority disagreed.

Paoletta wrote on X, “This entire investigation was never about 'ethics,' but about trying to undermine the Supreme Court.”

Thomas, for his part, contended that at the time he accepted the travel, no rules then in existence would have compelled any reporting, and since the implementation of a series of new rules, he has retraced his trip history and updated his disclosures.

What comes next?

Durbin called not only for an enforceable code of ethics to be put into place for Supreme Court justies, but the report also urges reform of the Judicial Conference, the oversight body for federal courts currently overseen by Chief Justice John Roberts.

However, with the imminent transition of power to a Republican-controlled House, Senate, and White House in January, any action in support of Durbin's recommendations is likely already dead in the water.