The pile-up of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s ethics issues — and those of his wife, Ginni Thomas — only appears to be getting worse with each passing week.
Most recently, a report from ProPublica revealed that real estate magnate and conservative donor Harlan Crow had paid thousands in school tuition for Thomas’s grand-nephew, a transaction that was not disclosed. Additionally, a Washington Post report found that Leonard Leo, a well-known Republican activist dedicated to stacking the court with conservative justices, secretly paid $25,000 to Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, allegedly for survey services. It’s not clear whether the second of these would constitute an ethics violation, though it does suggest a potential conflict of interest as the nonprofit Leo is affiliated with filed a brief with the Supreme Court shortly after the payment was made.
These latest reports add to several others documenting Thomas’s use of Crow’s yacht and private jet, and lucrative real estate sales the justice made with the billionaire, all without disclosure. When it comes to existing ethics rules, Thomas’s actions in many of these cases are a violation because he did not disclose these gifts as the Ethics in Government Act requires of many government officials. Thomas has previously said he did not believe he had to disclose the travel gifts, and he intends to amend a past disclosure to reflect the real estate sale.
Beyond the actual rule violations, Thomas’s actions also signal concerning conflicts of interest for one of the most powerful judges in the country. That wealthy conservative figures have bankrolled the lives of Thomas and his wife severely undercuts the Supreme Court’s appearance of independence and impartiality.
“Under any reasonable standard, the totality of the trips, gifts, the tuition payments, we’re talking potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars, it’s so egregious it could bring down the credibility of the court…
Read the full article here
