Why Clarence Thomas’ 'hilarious' explanation for gifts from GOP megadonor fall painfully flat

18 April 2023

Long-time critics of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas have grown even more critical thanks to ProPublica's bombshell reporting on his relationship with GOP megadonor Harlan Crow.

First came ProPublica's April 6 report, which revealed that the George H.W. Bush appointee had "been treated to luxury vacations by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow" for "over 20 years" and failed to report it. Then, on April 13, came ProPublica's report that Crow had purchased property from Thomas in Georgia in 2014 and failed to report that as well.

ProPublica's reports follow all the reporting on his wife Ginni Thomas' efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Ginni Thomas, a far-right GOP activist, has maintained that she doesn't discuss her work with her husband. But Justice Thomas' critics have taken no comfort in that claim, especially in light of his refusal to recuse himself from a case involving the January 6, 2021 insurrection.

Thomas, who has been on the High Court since 1991, has offered an explanation for the vacations Crow treated him to. But liberal Washington Post opinion columnist Eugene Robinson, in his April 17 column, emphasizes that Thomas' explanation doesn't hold up.

"From 2003 to 2007, on his disclosure forms, Thomas checked the box labeled 'none' for his wife's income," Robinson explains. "During that period, Ginni Thomas earned more than $686,000 from the conservative Heritage Foundation. When called on the lie, Thomas said it was an error 'due to a misunderstanding of the filing instructions.' Likewise, regarding the trips he took at Crow's expense, Thomas issued a statement claiming that early in his time on the Supreme Court, he 'was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable.'"

Robinson continues, "Stop laughing. All right, yes, it is hilarious. Thomas expects the nation to take seriously his views on the subtlest contours of the Constitution. He also expects us to believe he cannot understand a clear and simple instruction on a disclosure form; that he sees no distinction between 'personal hospitality' and trips halfway around the world by private jet; and that he sees nothing wrong about having a member of the board of the conservative American Enterprise Institute purchase and fix up his mother's house."

The columnist recalls that back in 1969, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren urged Justice Abe Fortas to resign "after it was learned that he had accepted, then returned, $20,000 from a Wall Street financier." Warren believed that the resignation of Fortas, appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1965, was necessary in order to protect the Court's reputation. And Fortas stepped down.

"Thomas accepted gifts from Crow worth many times that amount, even counting for inflation, and failed to report them," Robinson notes. "And then, there is all the money Ginni Thomas has received from right-wing organizations that lobby on issues before the Court — plus her outrageous involvement in the 'Stop the Steal' putsch that led to the January 6, 2021 Capitol insurrection…. My mental image of Thomas used to be of him sitting on the Supreme Court bench during arguments, silent and scowling. Now, I see him on vacation, smoking a cigar with Crow and his buddies, laughing as though he doesn't have a care in the world. The joke is on us."

Read Eugene Robinson's full Washington Post opinion column at this link(subscription required).

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