We don’t yet know what gifts Clarence and Ginni Thomas may have received this summer from any of their billionaire besties who just happen to have an interest in conservative issues before the Supreme Court.
But we do know, thanks to ProPublica, that coup-advocate Ginni Thomas seems a tad concerned the couples’ ethical lapses might be reined in by President Joe Biden or others concerned about the potentially millions of dollars in gifts and free travel she and Clarence have received, then avoided disclosing. Ditto for the money Ginni Thomas rakes in for her political work she ridiculously insists is kept separate from her husband’s like-minded rulings.
ProPublica got hold of a recorded pitch to donors by the extremist religious-rights First Liberty Institute CEO, Kelly Shackelford. In it, Shackelford quoted an email from Mrs. Clarence Thomas thanking the organization for fighting ethics reforms on the court:
SHACKELFORD (quoting Thomas): “I cannot adequately express enough appreciation for you guys pulling into reacting to the Biden effort on the Supreme Court. Many were so depressed at the lack of response by Rs and conservatives as too many seem to rely on one local lawyer in DC who’s a great individual, but it’s just one person for battling in the public square.”
And then this is in all caps: “YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES … THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH.”
In the same call, Shackelford attacked Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan after she called for a process to enforce the court’s honor-system ethics code.
More from ProPublica:
[Shackelford] aimed his fiercest criticism on the donor call at Kagan. “That is incredible, somewhat treasonous, what Kagan did,” Shackelford said. “The chief justice rules the court. They’re trying to keep the other branches’ hands off of them. And then you’ve got Kagan from the inside really being somewhat disloyal and somewhat treasonous in what she’s doing.”
ProPublica noted that more recently, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson also indicated support for an enforceable ethics code.
In case you need another reason to vote for Kamala Harris and any other Democrat running for Congress, the future of the Supreme Court is a biggie. Besides the reform issues, the two worst offenders, Thomas and Samuel Alito, are in their 70s and would likely hope to retire under Donald Trump so that they could be replaced by much younger versions.
