While Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has faced difficult ethics questions for many years, the far-right jurist’s difficulties took a more serious turn four months ago. ProPublica published a rather devastating report in early April, shining a light on the generous and undisclosed benefits Thomas has received from a Republican megadonor.
In the weeks and months that followed, ProPublica took the lead on exposing Thomas’ other unusual ties to his wealthy friend, but the outlet wasn’t alone. Last month, The New York Times took the story further, shining a light on previously unreported benefits the justice has received from a “cohort of wealthy and powerful friends,” thanks to his connections established through the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans.
This past weekend, the Times added fresh reporting on one of Thomas’ other wealthy pals providing the sitting justice with undisclosed financing that made it possible for Thomas to buy an expensive recreational vehicle. How big was the loan? Neither the justice nor his friend say. How much did Thomas repay? They wouldn’t say. What were the terms of the loan? They wouldn’t say. Was there a formal loan agreement? They wouldn’t say.
It was against this backdrop that ProPublica published another report that made the entire controversy look considerably worse.
During his three decades on the Supreme Court, Clarence Thomas has enjoyed steady access to a lifestyle most Americans can only imagine. A cadre of industry titans and ultrawealthy executives have treated him to far-flung vacations aboard their yachts, ushered him into the premium suites at sporting events and sent their private jets to fetch him — including, on more than one occasion, an entire 737. It’s a stream of luxury that is both more extensive and from a wider circle than has been previously understood.
According to the reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, Thomas has received “at least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas; 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter; a dozen VIP passes to professional and college sporting events, typically perched in the skybox; two stays at luxury resorts in Florida and Jamaica; and one standing invitation to an uber-exclusive golf club overlooking the Atlantic coast.”
In each instance, the far-right jurist’s luxurious benefits “have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence.” Though the precise value of the trips is difficult to measure, ProPublica described it as “likely in the millions” of dollars.
It’s an impossible dynamic to defend: Thomas is living the life of a wealthy man, thanks to the generosity of his rich, likeminded friends.
As my MSNBC colleague Zeeshan Aleem added, “There is nothing partisan about calling this what it is: a brazen, shameful abuse of power that undermines the legitimacy of the Supreme Court. That Thomas reportedly took these gifts is alarming enough. That he reportedly took them without disclosing that he had taken them (with rare exceptions) makes it hard to believe that Thomas doesn’t realize how bad this all looks.”
The next question, of course, is what happens now.
“The latest ProPublica revelation of unreported lavish gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas makes it clear: these are not merely ethical lapses,” Senate Judiciary Chair Dick Durbin wrote in an online statement. “This is a shameless lifestyle underwritten for years by a gaggle of fawning billionaires.”
The Illinois Democrat added, “Now it’s up to Chief Justice Roberts and the other Justices to act on ethics reform to save their own reputations and the Court’s integrity. If the Court will not act, then Congress must continue to.” It wasn’t an altogether satisfying response, in part because the other justices’ indifference to Thomas’ ethics problem seems obvious, and in part because congressional Republicans refuse to consider ethics reforms. Several other congressional Democrats, meanwhile, called for Thomas’ immediate resignation. Prominent Republican voices, meanwhile, who’ve spent much of the year rallying to the justices’ defense, said effectively nothing about the latest revelations. Perhaps that’s because Congress is on its summer break; perhaps GOP senators and presidential candidates simply couldn’t think of a way to defend the indefensible. Or perhaps Republicans have concluded that Thomas is effectively untouchable, and no matter how outlandish the justice’s ethics controversies become, his colleagues and the Congress won’t actually do anything meaningful to punish him or restore the integrity of the institution in which he serves.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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