Can Justice Clarence Thomas Be Held Accountable for Secret Dealings with Billionaire GOP Megadonor?

Democracy Now!
Democracy Now!
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Published 2023-05-08
We speak with longtime Supreme Court reporter Dahlia Lithwick about the mounting evidence of apparent financial impropriety by the court's conservatives. ProPublica recently reported that Republican billionaire Harlan Crow paid two years of private school tuition for Clarence Thomas's grandnephew — payments that Thomas did not include on his annual financial disclosures. This comes after previous reporting revealed Crow also paid money to Thomas and his relatives in an undisclosed real estate deal, and that Thomas accepted luxury travel from Crow virtually every year for decades, while failing to follow a federal law that requires him to publicly report most gifts. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports conservative judicial activist Leonard Leo arranged for Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, to be paid at least $80,000 for consulting work over a decade ago and asked that the payments not specify Ginni Thomas's name in any paperwork. Thomas later cast the deciding vote in a 5-4 ruling that gutted the Voting Rights Act of 1965, in a case supported by Leo and his conservative legal network. "Members of the Senate are beginning to understand that it is going to be incumbent on them to step in and issue some ethics rules or demand that the court issue ethics rules for itself," says Lithwick, who covers the courts and the law for Slate and hosts the podcast Amicus.

Transcript: www.democracynow.org/2023/5/8/scotus_scandals

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All Comments (21)
  • @timbly5824
    He has to be held accountable. Why can Clarence be allowed to do anything on the supreme court if he's not? John Roberts is the most disappointing judge ever.
  • @stewartmeyers4980
    Ethics rules for the Supreme Court??? Procecute them for corruption...
  • @maleighjohnson7020
    I just can’t believe that ANYONE in America gets to be appointed a lifetime job! I expect them to be the most unbiased, law abiding, virtuous, noble people, who are overflowing with integrity, and Clarence Thomas is the opposite of that! His wife is, too! He should be forced to resign immediately
  • @susanfrancis5471
    The American People aren’t going to Forget Old Clarence and Ginni. Clarence can Wish all he wants. Never Forget!
  • @Jon-xl6hh
    My trip to the Maldives in a private jet must have slipped my mind,... said no one ever.
  • @Chick4Biden2024
    Hold ALL Supreme Court judges accountable for ANY breach or appearances of ethical corruptions.
  • @elizabethellis9062
    Audit them all. Write new laws to replace norms. Impeach the crooked ones. Expand the court. Create term limits. The party is over. 🎉
  • @stevphenrose7820
    One set of rules for the Supreme Court and another set of rules for the rest of us.
  • @traviesoarcefan3063
    Isn't accepting these illegal gifts a form of tax evasion? Why is the IRS silent in this matter?
  • @mikechilders2755
    There needs to be a repeal of “Citizens United” and legislation that makes it illegal for elected officials and appointed judges and elected officials to comply with STRICT ETHICS rules. We need to get big business the HELL OUT OF OUR elections. WE THE PEOPLE are who VOTE for our representatives and our “representatives” (both “republican” and “democrat”) can be bought and paid for. VOTE them all out and vote in representatives loyal to THE PEOPLE!!!
  • @frankieclayton9303
    The poor are suffering and they are getting away with corruption lawlessness
  • @gregfoster679
    Police can no longer eat and drink free at restaurants or accept other "gratuities" but Supreme Court justices can receive all that Thomas has? This makes no sense that this is possible.
  • @freddistenbrain8287
    Why SCOTUS justices should not be subject to the same ethics rules and standards as the rest of the federal bench defies reason.
  • @Dnn411
    We can’t let up on holding them accountable.
  • @marymccluer1630
    Thank you for keeping a spotlight on this issue. Court watchers used to say that John Roberts was deeply concerned about the Court's reputation, and so it came as quite a surprise and disappointment when he declined to appear before Congress. That was his chance to say, yes, I think ethics matter, yes, I agree we need to do a better job of disclosing. But now we hear that his wife was paid $10m to recruit lawyers for a firm that has frequent business before the Court. That $10m was essentially an access fee with a bow on top. It used to be that such a revelation would have created a major scandal (as Holly Golightly said, "There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's reputation"), now such acts of corruption are becoming normalized.
  • @jim2376
    Americans to Clarence Thomas: "You should act ethically." Clarence Thomas to Americans: "Make me!"
  • @hegyak
    Can be held accountable? Yes. Will? Nope. Those with Money/Power never seem to face Consequences.
  • @leslieroberts4767
    If Thomas resigns or is impeached: will Crow still give Clarence and Ginni enormous gifts our of personal friendship? The Thomas household needs to pay taxes on all those huge gifts!