Ed. Note: Nicole Lafond will be back to helming Where Things Stand soon.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas went up and away into the wild blue yonder aboard billionaire GOP donor Harlan Crow’s private jet three other times that he hasn’t reported on his financial disclosure filings, according to Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-IL).
I never would have guessed that Thomas was receiving more gifts than he has already grudgingly disclosed after extensive, shaming media coverage.
FiRst
This smells more and more like Trump’s classified documents saga - get caught, admit to at least that, continue to hide the rest of the sordid story, get caught again, rinse and repeat. How many iterations of this do we have to go through before SCOTUS gets flushed clean?
With each new revelation, it becomes more and more clear that an enforceable SCOTUS code of ethics is absolutely necessary, and even more so, that Thomas does not deserve a seat on The Supreme Court, or on any court at any level.
SC Justices cannot be held accountable for their rulings even if they are bizarre. But they better be above reproach in their personal and business life. Keep the pressure on!
Lifetime earnings for an average American born in 1982 are $2.43 million.1
To the best of the public’s knowledge, Clarence Thomas has received at least $4.2 million in secret gifts from a handful of businessmen.
That’s 1.7x a whole person’s lifetime income, all unreported, because a Supreme Court Justice alleges he could not understand reporting rules that were written precisely so people like him could understand them.
1 Average male with a Bachelor’s degree. Source: The Knowles Group, quoting the Social Security Administration. (Knowles appears to be a forensic economist who specializes in providing expert testimony.) Also, I may have misinterpreted the graph.
People are saying that Clarence and Harlan got a thing going on. Lots of people. Mile high club.
And that’s just the three that we know about. How did those not show up on Thomas’s filing the other day? And how many others over the past three decades were not filed?
“As a condition of this agreement, the Committee agreed to end its probe with respect to Mr. Crow.” FFS why? The guy is guilty of paying massive bribes and we’re letting him walk away?!? Durbin is so friggin worthless.
Thomas could not understand reporting rules? He can’t read? What a stupid excuse. Most of us on TPM probably could understand them. The IQ of US citizens has dropped considerably since 2016.
Exactly. Every Fed has to understand the rules. I’m guessing he also can’t understand the Constitution.
Boy, it would be very sad–horrible even–if Uncle Justice Thomas didn’t pay all of the federal income tax he owes for the trips 'n things he forgot about (or remembered). Maybe Harlan could cover that, too.
It is very rich. Per TPM:
Thomas has similarly defended his failure to make required disclosures as an unintentional error or a misunderstanding of the rules.
This, from Thomas’s amended form, appears to be his entire explanation for why he failed to mention the hugely expensive luxury trip he took just 4 years ago (emphasis mine):
which was inadvertently omitted at the time of filing
Clarence Thomas says, on one hand, he’s better at reading and understanding the law than almost any other lawyer in the country (and deserves to be a Justice), but he didn’t understand this rule. (And the form says he consulted both a lawyer and an accountant. So who’s to say where the incompetence lies?)
Somehow, the error is always in this guy’s favor. Heads, he wins; tails, we lose.
If he can’t understand reporting rules, he can’t understand the Constitution and should resign.
“Equal before the law” my fat spotty ass.
I look at that cat and all I can think of is Grover Cleveland
Exposing Thomas and embarrassing Republicans in the same stroke- that’s efficiency!
It’s really clear why Durbin released them AFTER Senate Republicans voted down his bill. Republicans are okay with their justices getting the same fluffing they get. Thomas votes the way Republicans and their donors want. They are okay that Crow has Thomas in his pocket as long as he votes the way they want.
The Senate needs to get rid of Thomas. He’s exactly what Trump complained about in New York- a corrupt, conflicted judge. Crow is flying him around the world, taking him or cruises, paying for his wife’s organization, paid for his grandnephew’s education and owning the house Thomas’ mother lives in. If Republicans were screaming about a judge giving $35 to support a candidate, why are they so silent about a judge getting millions in gifts?
try watching Frontline’s Murder in St. Augustine
The parallels with Mao have been terrifying. Especially including the part where the man himself has been utterly unimpressive every step of the way. He’s not just an asshole, he’s the kind that is easiest to spot and most immediately obnoxious.
The much-vaunted “moral arc” has a lot of explaining to do, I think.
Reading comprehension and understanding rules seems like a basic job requirement for an SC justice, but I’ve been known to be wrong, a lot.
