signalmankenneth
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We’re just starting to digest the implications of Justice Clarence Thomas’ latest ethics scandal — but as with so many past scandals, it is quickly becoming clear that the original allegations may not be what finally initiates some accountability. Indeed, last week the Senate Judiciary Committee officially requested Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts to testify about ethical standards on the country’s highest court. And a possible cover-up might have been the final straw.
It’s hard to understate the seriousness of the recent bombshell revelations about Thomas’ decades-long patronage relationship with billionaire Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. That Thomas felt comfortable accepting the series of opulent gifts and vacations from the reclusive real estate mogul is an obvious indictment of our judicial ethics system. The fact that he appears to have concealed these benefits from the public after he was mildly criticized in the wake of a report in 2004 may be just as great a problem, underscoring the need for serious ethics reform at the country's highest court.
Thomas’ actions place him in potential legal jeopardy, and further undermine the Supreme Court’s legitimacy in the eyes of a public that has become increasingly skeptical of its ability to act as an apolitical arbiter of the law. Like former President Richard Nixon before him, Thomas’ apparent deception has created a crisis of confidence in our institutions of government.
Let’s start with the facts: According to two blockbuster stories by ProPublica, Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, have had a decades-long relationship with real estate mogul and noted conservative activist Harlan Crow. During the period of their apparent friendship, which notably began after Thomas ascended to the Supreme Court, Crow treated the Thomas's to vacations on his super yacht, flights around the world on his private jet and even invited Thomas to an all-male retreat called Bohemian Grove.
Crow’s company also purchased three residential properties in Savannah, Georgia, co-owned by Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas’ late brother, for $133,363. Crow made substantial improvements to the property and allowed Thomas’ mother to remain in her house rent free. Crow defended the deal by noting that he purchased the property to maintain Thomas’ childhood home for posterity and as a potential site for a museum dedicated to the justice, perhaps failing to realize that such a monument is also a gift of potentially immeasurable value. CNN reports Thomas thought he didn't need to report the deals but would be reviewing his financial disclosure forms.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc...ohn-roberts-clarence-thomas-problem-rcna80882
It’s hard to understate the seriousness of the recent bombshell revelations about Thomas’ decades-long patronage relationship with billionaire Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. That Thomas felt comfortable accepting the series of opulent gifts and vacations from the reclusive real estate mogul is an obvious indictment of our judicial ethics system. The fact that he appears to have concealed these benefits from the public after he was mildly criticized in the wake of a report in 2004 may be just as great a problem, underscoring the need for serious ethics reform at the country's highest court.
Thomas’ actions place him in potential legal jeopardy, and further undermine the Supreme Court’s legitimacy in the eyes of a public that has become increasingly skeptical of its ability to act as an apolitical arbiter of the law. Like former President Richard Nixon before him, Thomas’ apparent deception has created a crisis of confidence in our institutions of government.
Let’s start with the facts: According to two blockbuster stories by ProPublica, Clarence Thomas and his wife, Ginni, have had a decades-long relationship with real estate mogul and noted conservative activist Harlan Crow. During the period of their apparent friendship, which notably began after Thomas ascended to the Supreme Court, Crow treated the Thomas's to vacations on his super yacht, flights around the world on his private jet and even invited Thomas to an all-male retreat called Bohemian Grove.
Crow’s company also purchased three residential properties in Savannah, Georgia, co-owned by Thomas, his mother and the family of Thomas’ late brother, for $133,363. Crow made substantial improvements to the property and allowed Thomas’ mother to remain in her house rent free. Crow defended the deal by noting that he purchased the property to maintain Thomas’ childhood home for posterity and as a potential site for a museum dedicated to the justice, perhaps failing to realize that such a monument is also a gift of potentially immeasurable value. CNN reports Thomas thought he didn't need to report the deals but would be reviewing his financial disclosure forms.
https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc...ohn-roberts-clarence-thomas-problem-rcna80882
