Harlan Crow, a longtime friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, has rejected a request from Senate Democrats for financial documents regarding Crow’s relationship with the justice.

Crow’s attorney, Michael Bopp, sent Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), chair of the Senate Finance Committee, a response letter on Monday saying Wyden’s request lacked a proper legal predicate and, instead, is an “attempt to tarnish the reputation of a sitting Supreme Court Justice and his friend of many years, Mr. Crow.”

“The Committee showed no interest in evaluating federal gift tax laws until the April 24 Letter, which came just two weeks after media reports regarding Mr. Crow’s friendship with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, and has given no indication of any federal gift tax issues it seeks to investigate beyond those referenced in the Letter,” Bopp wrote in a letter obtained by CNN. “Given the Letter’s timing and focus, this inquiry appears to be a component of a broader campaign against Justice Thomas and, now, Mr. Crow, rather than an investigation that furthers a valid legislative purpose.”

Crow and Thomas have been friends for more than 20 years. In that time, Thomas and Crow have vacationed together in places such as Indonesia and Greece, and Thomas has on occasion used Crow’s private plane for travel. Crow also bought Thomas’ childhood home with the intention of one day turning it into a memorial or museum for the second black Supreme Court justice in U.S. history. Thomas took a loss on the sale.

Thomas did not report the gifts on his financial disclosures to the Supreme Court because they were not required under the court’s ethics rules.

In response to Bopp’s letter, Wyden accused Crow of “stonewalling.”

“The bottom line is that nobody can expect to get away with waving off Finance Committee oversight, no matter how wealthy or well-connected they may be,” Wyden said in a statement, according to Politico. “I will send a full response to Mr. Crow’s attorney in the coming days.

“The assertion that the Finance Committee lacks a legislative basis for an investigation of the abuse of gift taxes by the wealthy is simply preposterous,” the senator said. “I have used my Chairmanship of the committee to shine a bright light on tax schemes undertaken by the ultra-wealthy, including untaxed transfers of wealth.”

Fourteen Senate Republicans wrote a letter to Wyden on Monday as well, condemning the Democrat’s investigation into Thomas, Crow, and their relationship. The senators accused the Democrat of trying to intimidate the Supreme Court.

“We reject this manufactured ‘ethics crisis’ at the Supreme Court as a ploy to further Democrats’ efforts to undermine public confidence and change the makeup of the court,” the GOP senators wrote. They also criticized attempts to withhold $10 million in security funding for the Court. “It is shocking that the Democrats would try to leverage the physical security of Supreme Court justices and their families to force the Court to bend to its demands.”

Eleven Democratic state attorneys general issued comments to the Consumer Product Safety Commission on Monday endorsing the agency’s efforts to regulate natural gas stoves.

Biden administration officials provoked controversy earlier this year when they introduced new emissions rules for gas stoves, even as increased adoption of the fuel serves as a significant driver of lower emissions in the United States. Backlash over the move emerged when CPSC Commissioner Richard Trumka Jr. said in an interview that gas stoves are a “hidden hazard” and declared that “any option is on the table” for a ban, after which CPSC Chairman Alex Hoehn-Saric posted a statement asserting that the agency did not intend to outlaw gas stoves.

The attorneys general nevertheless said in comments on forthcoming CPSC regulations that they support the development of “voluntary standards or mandatory regulations that will reduce the emissions of harmful pollutants from gas stoves” which worsen indoor air quality. The officials added that the CPSC should “increase consumer awareness of the harms posed by gas stoves through more informative warning labels and public education.”

Some 38% of households nationwide currently use gas stoves, a figure which approaches 70% for states such as California and New Jersey, according to data from the Energy Information Administration. Families with a gas stove use the appliance an average of eight times per week.

The comments asserted that most states have already “recognized the health hazards posed by household gas appliances, including gas stoves, and have introduced and adopted policies and regulations that aim to mitigate those hazards” through mechanisms such as “supporting home electrification.” The attorneys general cited multiple legislative efforts to regulate the appliances, including a “net-zero building code” in Washington, D.C., that will effectively “ban most natural gas use in new buildings,” as well as a similar law in New York that will prohibit the installation of gas stoves in new homes and buildings.

The regulatory attention toward the appliances follows a letter from Democratic lawmakers last year expressing concern over “risks posed to consumers” by gas stoves. The comments from the attorneys general cited similar concerns, contending that low-income households and minority communities are especially vulnerable to air pollution from the devices.

“Pollution from gas stoves often has a disproportionate effect on households located in underserved communities, especially low-income households. In some instances, low-income housing conditions may contribute to a greater risk of exposure to pollutants from gas stoves,” the letter continued. “Those conditions include smaller unit sizes in multifamily housing, poor ventilation, use of a gas stove as a source of heat, and maintenance deficiencies.”

The call for regulatory action comes days after Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm announced new efficiency standards for dishwashers, vending machines, and electric motors. She said that the Biden administration is “using all of the tools at our disposal to save Americans money while promoting innovations that will reduce carbon pollution and combat the climate crisis.”

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The Energy Department has thereby introduced regulatory crackdowns for more than one dozen product categories this year, actions which agency officials contend are “preserving reliability and performance across household appliances and commercial and industrial equipment.” The Biden administration, which has established a “whole-of-government effort” to reduce carbon emissions, drafted several similar regulations over the past two years.