Capitol Hill Blue Forums Capitol Hill Blue Opinions CHB Columnists Time to kick Thomas off the Supreme Court

Chuck Schumer is taking care of that. There'll be a temp replacement soon.

He needs the Abe Fortas treatment.

'No mention of Ginni'

Those were the instruction to Kellyanne Conway, Republican pollster, made by conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo in 2012 from Judicial Education Project, a nonprofit Leo advised, to pay Ginni Thomas for consultation work through Kellyanne's polling company.

Leo told Conway to make "no mention of Ginni, of course," and bill the nonprofit "another $25k," according to the documents reviewed by the Washington Post.

Leo explained to WaPo that it was his desire to keep Ginni Thomas' name off the paperwork by asserting he has "always tried to protect the privacy of Justice Thomas and Ginni" because of how "disrespectful, malicious and gossipy people can be.”

The same year Conway helped send the money to Ginni, the Judicial Education Project submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court about a landmark voting rights case. In that case, Clarence Thomas ruled in favor for the side the Judicial Education Project wanted to win.

Earlier this week ProPublica reported that GOP megadonor Harlan Crow had paid private school tuition for Thomas's grandnephew which the Thomas' were raising as a "son." An amount roughly $100,000 of undisclosed gifts.

Last month, ProPublica revealed new details about private jet travel and luxury yacht trips Thomas also accepted from Crow.

Americans shouldn't expect Clarence to live off of his $275K annual salary and should expect that kind people like Harland Crow and Leonard Leo to pay for everything that the Thomas' need.

Kidding!


...if only there had been some sign, some evidence, some witness, that Clarence was unfit to be a Justice back in 1992.

More revalations have surfaced of how ultra-rich people have been oiling SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas up like a rusty bike chain. Yup, it's more of the same: Thomas gadding about the planet and getting “bestowed an array of benefits” on more than a few billionaire’s dime.

It turns out, it's not just weirdo Harlan Crow who likes display Nazi memorabilia in his house that Thomas was gadding around with - it's multiple billionaires.

Is it so odd that the nation’s wealthiest people would seek out a lowly civil servant’s company, like Clarence Thomas, because he is that much fun to be with - especially with half a $10,000 bottle of French champagne in him? Yes it is!

It is also hard to believe these billionaires would treasure his friendship so much even though his civil servant's work did not help them amass and grow and never pay taxes on their obscene wealth. Billionaires like Peter Sokol and Tony Novelly and now deceased H. Wayne Huizenga.

These billionaires have showered Clarence Thomas with benefits such as flying Thomas around in private luxurious 737s, providing Thomas with a lifetime membership at a private golf club with its course designed by Gary Player with its own private marina. Inviting Clarence to a few Nebraska football games in billionaire Tom Osborne’s private suite while sipping Chilean wine and catered food.

All of these benefits contrast with Thomas' self-made image as a salt-of-the-earth RV-loving American - a RV that is a custom-built ultra-luxury "bougie" model that another billionaire, Anthony Welters, "loaned" money to Thomas to pay $267,230 for in 1999. ABA Journal writes, "Thomas would likely have been unable to obtain a bank loan for the vehicle because he was carrying a large amount of debt, and it is difficult to value customized RVs like the Marathon RV." Now, imagine Clarence and Ginny Thomas pulling into a WalMart parking lot in THAT ritzy of a motor coach, and kicking-it with everyday simple folks "who don’t recognize them" as Clarence likes to tell anyone who will listen.

These same billionaires have financed hagiographic documentaries about Thomas' life and funding library wings in his name and generally built Thomas up as some sort of god-king who should be revered as the greatest Supreme Court justice to ever sit on the bench. Is not a god-king of such stature entitled to be treated to all-expenses paid deep-sea fishing expeditions in the Bahamas every now and then?

A special counsel should be created to look into Thomas' undeclared benefits from IRS filed returns.

MAGA complains about every bodies but their own corruption. I don't git it. I keep telling them what makes me different than them is I AM against all corruption ... including politicians who are not Republican. Thus I said in the beginning investigate Hunter Biden ... but I also said investigate what optically appears to be improprieties but the Trumps. If either candidates Biden or Obama were surrounded by Russians or Iranians or Chinese, I would hope the FBI would investigate.

I support and defend the Constitution, not the elected people who have taken an oath to defend it.

Rwingers are completely fine with corrprution - as long as they are the only ones doing it.

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.

Getting rid of Thomas (and Alito, for that matter) would require either impeachment and conviction, or an Amendment to the constitution. Neither of those is going to happen until Republicans all decide to do the right thing for the country. In other words, never.

BUT: Surely there must be some actual crimes in all that corruption. Hatch Act? Income tax evasion? Bribery? Maybe all we need is an AG willing to indict them, a jury willing to convict them, and then a judge willing to sentence them to prison. There is a basic presumption from English Common Law that no man can serve as his own judge, so I doubt the Supreme Court would exonerate them.