Here we go again.
Reportedly, in a land transaction in 2017 involving the CEO of a famous law firm, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Neil Gorsuch did not disclose the buyer’s identity.
Gorsuch listed forty acres of land for sale in Colorado in 2015. He had twenty percent stock in the building, as reported by Politico.
The property’s co-owners found a buyer in Brian Duffy, the CEO of Greenberg Traurig, a large law firm that routinely appears before the Supreme Court, just nine days after Neil Gorsuch was confirmed as a justice. The sale closed nine days after Gorsuch was confirmed.
According to the article, Gorsuch disclosed receiving between $250,000 and $500,000 from the sale, although he did not name the purchaser.
According to Politico’s count, Greenberg Traurig has been involved in 22 separate cases filed in court since the transaction. Gorsuch has given his official opinion on twelve of them. As many times as he voted against the firm, he sided with them eight times.
Duffy has made it quite clear that he is not a close friend of Gorsuch’s or an important colleague of his. He’s said he has never had a private argument with Gorsuch or even spoken to him outside of work.
On the other hand, Gorsuch’s failure to disclose Duffy’s purchase has been revealed at a time when the Supreme Court’s own ethical guidelines are under intense scrutiny.
Justice Clarence Thomas’s personal buddy and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow recently came under fire for their secret vacations together. Thomas has been emphatic that he had no responsibility to report the trips.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has asked Chief Justice John Roberts, or another justice of his choosing, to appear before the committee in light of the discoveries and address questions about the court’s ethical policies.
