Law firm CEO with US supreme court dealings bought property from Gorsuch

The US supreme court justice Neil Gorsuch made as much as $500,000 from a 2017 real estate sale, according to a new report, but did not disclose the identity of the buyer: the chief executive of a law firm with extensive business before the high court.

The news represents a new headache for the chief justice, John Roberts, who Democrats want to testify over extensive media reporting about the relationship between Clarence Thomas, another conservative, and a Republican mega-donor, Harlan Crow.

Gorsuch was confirmed in 2017, the first of three appointments under Donald Trump which tilted the court firmly right.

He has since voted with conservative majorities in decisions including the removal of the federal right to abortion and a loosening of gun control laws.

Outlets including the Guardian have shown that groups linked to Crow have had business before the court in the time of his friendship with Thomas.

Calls for action against Thomas, including impeachment, are unlikely to produce results. Supreme court justices are subject to federal regulations but in practice govern themselves. But public trust in the court has reached historic lows.