'I hate blacks': Justice Thomas hires clerk who claims 'no recollection' of racist texts

A law clerk recently hired by Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas allegedly stated that she hates Black people, Reuters reports.

Per the report, the New Yorker reported in 2017 that during her time working for the right-wing nonprofit, Turning Point, Crystal Clanton – who is Black — texted a colleague, "I HATE BLACK PEOPLE ... I hate blacks. End of story."

Journalist Jane Mayer reported that Clanton denied the allegations saying "she had no recollection of the messages and that they 'do not reflect what I believe or who I am."

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Upon leaving Turning Point, according to Reuters, Ginni Thomas hired Clanton "to assist in media ventures," and "Justice Thomas has said Clanton lived in their home for nearly a year."

Clanton's hiring was confirmed by George Mason University's Antonin Scalia Law School, The New York Times reports, which "has long stood out for its ties to conservative donors."

The Times notes the school has actively strived to "cultivate a close relationship with the Supreme Court justices, several of whom have taught there or served as guests at school events, including Justice Thomas. The school was renamed after Justice Scalia in 2016, the result of a $30 million gift crafted by Leonard Leo, a conservative activist who has worked to push the federal judiciary to the right."

Reuters reports following Clanton's 2022 graduation from law school, Clanton clerked "for U.S. District Judge Corey Maze in Birmingham, Alabama. She then clerked for Chief U.S. Circuit Judge William Pryor of the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Both were appointed by Republican presidents."

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Additionally, the Times reports, following Judge Pryor's decision to hire Clanton, "a group of seven members of Congress wrote a letter to Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., raising concerns about Ms. Clanton’s hiring. In the letter, the lawmakers raised concerns that such a decision would be 'singularly problematic' because of 'the proximity law clerks have to judicial decision-making.'"

Reuters' full report is available here.