REPORT THE BOOTY (CARTOON, COLUMN AND VIDEO)
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is corrupt.
Doing some excellent journalism, ProPublica published a report that Clarence Thomas has been receiving gifts and luxury vacations from a billionaire pal of his without reporting them.
One example is the trip Clarence and his wife, Insurrectionist Ginni, took to Indonesia. The couple flew on GOP megadonor Harlan Crow’s private jet and then spent nine days island hopping on his 162-foot super yacht. If Clarence had paid for the trip himself, it would have cost him at least $500,000.
Clarence has been sucking on Harlan’s teat for over two decades. Clarence is a public servant and a government employee who makes $285,000 a year (SCOTUS judges also make outside income from speaking engagements and book deals). Clarence is not hurting financially. Clarence has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the world, flown on his luxury private jet to exotic locations, spends time at his all-male private resort (what kind of asshole has a sausage party resort?), at his ranch in Texas, and spends a week every year at another resort he owns in the Adirondacks.
And Clarence never reported any of them.
The billionaire buddy released a statement basically saying it’s OK to spend millions over the past two decades spoiling Clarence because Clarence never asked for it and he wines and dines “other dear friends” as well. How does someone become a billionaire without understanding context? Oh, that’s right. Harlan inherited.
Harlan also said he’s never discussed a pending or lower court case with Thomas. saying, “We have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue.” First off, if you’ve been buddies for two decades and you spend weeks together isolated on a boat, I’m sure legal and political issues come up. And even if it doesn’t, do you have to bring up where you stand on issues when you’re spending millions to entertain him?
Clarence released a statement saying he never violated any laws or rules because his billionaire buddy has never had business before the court. But that doesn’t matter because, “When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust,” said Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer. Legal or not, it’s unethical, but Clarence doesn’t care about ethics.
When cases came before the court over Trump’s attempt to overturn and steal the election, Clarence didn’t recuse himself even though his wife was involved in those theft attempts.
Crow is a real estate magnate and while his firm may not have had any cases before the Supreme Court while Clarence has been on the bench, they have overseen cases that involved the real estate industry.
Members of Congress are prohibited from accepting gifts worth over $50 and need pro-approval from an ethics committee to take the sort of trips Clarence took. So why doesn’t this apply to SCOTUS justices?
Clarence has said he prefers the United States over traveling abroad, saying, “I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There’s something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that. I prefer being around that.” I’m sure he misses those Walmart parking lots while island hopping on the superyacht.
It should also be noted that while on these luxury excursions, other billionaire assholes, right-wing political activists, and Republican think-tank goons have access to Clarence too.
Crow has given over $10 million in political donations and has also donated to right-wing groups that don’t disclose the contributions they receive. He also gives to the Federalist Society, a group that works to put conservative judges on the courts. Donald Trump basically allowed the Federalist Society to make the selections for the justices he put on the Supreme Court. Crow has bragged that he doesn’t disclose anything he doesn’t to.
Thomas claims he didn’t violate any laws, but he may have violated disclosure laws that were created after Watergate.
Thomas is the kind of asshole who believes he’s the one who can decide if what he’s doing is legal or not. He’s a liar. His wife is a liar. Everyone he hangs out with is a Republican and we know that all Republicans are liars. We also know that all Republicans lack ethics and are corrupt.
The practice of the Supreme Court policing itself needs to end. The members of the court should be made to abide by the same laws as other government employees. They’re one of the three branches of our government and we have a right to know who’s buying them.
And what kind of mooch allows a friend to pay for their vacations and travel for 20 years? Clarence Thomas, that kind of mooch.
Maybe the rest of the Supreme Court should expel Thomas. I hear that’s popular now.
Visit Clay Jones’ website and email him at Clay@claytoonz.com.
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