Durbin says all options are on the table as a Senate committee investigates Supreme Court ethics

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin says the Senate Judiciary Committee, which he chairs, has not ruled anything out in its Supreme Court ethics probe, including issuing subpoenas to the justices.

“We haven’t taken anything off the table,” the Illinois Democrat and Senate majority whip said in an interview on WGLT’s Sound Ideas when asked if subpoenas for Supreme Court justices were an option.

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Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow refused the committee’s questions about gifts he gave to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Chief Justice John Roberts also rebuffed the judiciary committee's questions.

Durbin said justices can't argue that separation of powers shields them from ethics laws.

“To argue that there’s no connection between what we pass in law and how the courts operate,” Durbin said, "it’s just not true and it shouldn’t be. There are basic standards of integrity that people expect in a courtroom.”

The committee plans to work on ethics reform legislation for the high court.