Clarence Thomas' Ethics Review and Senate Testimony Under Scrutiny

A federal judge testified to a Senate panel that the Judicial Conference failed to inform its full membership of complaints raised by lawmakers and watchdog groups about Justice Clarence Thomas' pattern of nondisclosure on his financial reports more than 10 years ago. The complaints asked the conference to refer the matter to the US attorney general to probe whether the justice's behavior ran afoul of a federal ethics law. The Judicial Conference defended its decision more than 10 years ago to not refer Thomas to the DOJ to investigate allegations that his pattern of nondisclosure on his financial reports broke federal law.