The proverbial faucet of ethics scandals around Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas continues to drip. The Washington Post reported Thursday that conservative activist Leonard Leo, a key architect of the right’s takeover of the court, arranged in 2012 for Thomas’ wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work. And he specifically requested that the billing paperwork have “No mention of Ginni, of course.”
While neither NBC News nor MSNBC have independently verified the report, Leo issued a statement to the Post that didn’t deny the story. Asked why he sought to hide Ginni Thomas’ name, Leo said, “Knowing how disrespectful, malicious and gossipy people can be, I have always tried to protect the privacy of Justice Thomas and Ginni.”
The new scandal follows reports from ProPublica that in the decades since Clarence Thomas became a Supreme Court justice, billionaire donor Harlan Crow has provided the Thomases with gifts and luxury trips, purchased the justice’s mother’s home and paid for the expensive private school tuition of their grandnephew, who was in the Thomases’ legal custody.
Neither NBC News nor MSNBC have independently confirmed the latter report either, but a close friend of the justice acknowledged it in a statement. In response to each ProPublica report, Crow has issued statements either confirming or not disputing the stories. While Thomas has acknowledged the gifts and trips, which he described as “personal hospitality from close personal friends,” he has not commented on the real estate sale or the tuition payments.
But enough is enough. Thomas must resign — or be impeached.
Unprecedented ethical breaches demand an unprecedented response.
A few lawmakers have already grasped this reality, including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Cori Bush, D-Mo.; and Summer Lee, D-Pa. Others — such as Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. — have at least called for…
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