Changes

Charles Koch's invitation letter to the January 2011 summit also noted that previous guests have included politicians and Supreme Court justices. The politicians included Governors [[Haley Barbour]] and [[Bobby Jindal]]; Senators [[Jim DeMint]] and [[Tom Coburn]] and Representatives [[Mike Pence]], [[Tom Price]] and [[Paul Ryan]].<ref>Kate Zernike, "[http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/20/us/politics/20koch.html?_r=2&ref=politics&pagewanted=allSecretive Republican Donors Are Planning Ahead]," ''New York Times'', October 19, 2012. Accessed June 10, 2014.</ref>

Supreme Court Justices [[Antonin Scalia]] and [[Clarence Thomas]] have attended these events. According to Salon, "Thomas claimed he just made "a brief drop-by" at the Koch brothers' January 2008 Palm Springs political retreat to give a talk; in fact he was reimbursed for four days of “transportation, meals and accommodations” by the Federalist Society.<ref>Joan Walsh, "[http://www.salon.com/2011/02/16/robber_baron_justice/ Robber baron justice]," ''Salon'', February 15, 2011. Accessed June 10, 2014.</ref> The attendance of Thomas and Scalia has sparked debate over judicial ethics and the 2010 [[Citizens United]] decision.<ref>Sam Stein, [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/20/scalia-thomas-koch-industries_n_769843.html "Justices Scalia And Thomas's Attendance At Koch Event Sparks Judicial Ethics Debate"] , HuffPo, October 20, 2010.</ref> Common Cause filed a petition with the Justice Department in January 2011 alleging a conflict of interest for these Justices, as David and Charles Koch operate foundations that contribute to political groups, which might benefit from relaxed campaign finance rules.<ref>Eric Lichtblau, [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/20/us/politics/20koch.html Advocacy Group Says Justices May Have Conflict in Campaign Finance Cases], NY Times, Jan 19, 2011, accesed July 10, 2011.</ref> Common Cause has also noted that the Cato Institute, which Charles Koch founded, filed an amicus brief in ''Citizens United'' opposing campaign finance.<ref>Derek Cressman, [http://www.commonblog.com/2011/02/23/did-james-bopp-conspire-with-koch-industries/ Did James Bopp Conspire With Koch Industries], Commonblog.com, Feb 23, 2011, accessed July 11, 2011.</ref> The Center for Competitive Politics also filed a brief in the case; the Center is headed by Bradley Smith, who is affiliated with the Institute for Humane Studies where Charles Koch is Chair of the board and funder.<ref> [http://www.theihs.org/guest-lecturers/bradley-smith Brad Smith bio], Institute for Humane Studies, accessed July 10, 2011.</ref>