Democratic senators call on DoJ to investigate Clarence Thomas

Sheldon Whitehouse and Ron Wyden demand inquiry into supreme court justice's possible ethics and tax violations

The US attorney general should appoint a special counsel to investigate potential criminal violations of federal ethics and tax laws by the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, two Democratic senators have said.

Thomas has been at the center of an ongoing scandal over undeclared gifts, many from the rightwing mega-donor Harlan Crow, which have included flights, vacations, school fees and a property purchase.