Clarence Thomas' corruption saga is worse than initially thought.
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has participated in at least two donor events for the influential Koch network without disclosing it,
ProPublica reports - and hung out with the Koch brothers at a private retreat for the wealthy - the latest in a string of ethics scandals over Thomas’ association with wealthy friends, which also raises questions about his participation in an upcoming court case.
Thomas has attended donor summits in 2018 and 2008 for the Koch network, the overlapping nonprofits founded by billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch that have exerted broad influence over Republican politics (the network is also known as Stand Together).
Also in 2018, Thomas attended a summit for high-level donors, which was part of a fundraising strategy by the organization to court donors using access to high-profile guests like the justice - which could flout ethics guidelines that discourage justices from taking part in fundraising activities.
The justice did not disclose his attendance on his financial disclosure form, and also did not note private jet flights he took to and from the summit - which the Koch network denied paying for, and
ProPublica notes it is unclear who financed those flights.
Thomas has attended Bohemian Grove retreats for more than two decades as a guest of his longtime, increasingly problematic friend Harlan Crow. It costs thousands of dollars for a member to bring a guest to the Grove, but witnesses told
ProPublica that Thomas was there almost every year. Thomas did not disclose any of those trips as required.
During the period when Thomas has been documented spending time with the Koch network, his position on government regulation has shifted dramatically. The most significant example is the 1984 case of
Chevron v. NRDC, which found that government agencies are responsible for determining the rules that put laws into effect.
The Koch network has repeatedly challenged this precedent over the years. Thomas wrote the majority opinion in a 2005 case that expanded the protections from Chevron. By 2020, he had rejected his own opinion as unconstitutional. I'm sure the gifts and travel had nothing to do with that!
In the upcoming Supreme Court term, the justices will hear a case that could overturn the Chevron precedent. Thomas’s shocking switch could help deliver the Koch network a major victory.
