Hi,
Another bombshell Supreme Court scandal just broke — and Congress is
finally taking action to do something about it.
The Guardian newspaper caught an aide to Justice Clarence Thomas taking
direct cash payments through Venmo from several top lawyers with business
before the high court — including one who just successfully argued the
case that ended affirmative action in higher education.
Apparently the money was intended to cover the costs of a Christmas party
hosted by Thomas himself.^1 Even George W. Bush’s White House ethics
lawyer said, “There’s no excuse for it. His Christmas party should not be
paid for by lawyers.”
The good news is that the U.S. Senate has announced that they will vote
next week on legislation to impose a binding code of ethics on the Supreme
Court. Now we need to ramp up our grassroots campaign to get this bill
passed into law.
[ [link removed] ]Will you make a donation to Demand Progress Action to support our work,
including holding Clarence Thomas to account and pushing Congress to adopt
a Supreme Court code of ethics?
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This is far from the first time Thomas has been in the spotlight for
unethical conduct. Republican billionaire Harlan Crow has been allowing
Thomas and his family to live to like the superrich for two decades —
paying for his relative’s elite private school education, buying property
from him way above market value, and lavishing the Thomases with luxury
vacations and gifts.^2,3,4 None of it was ever reported.
What’s more, there’s real evidence that all this money influenced Thomas’s
rulings, after he flipped his vote on a major legal precedent that would
gut regulatory enforcement of environmental, public health, worker safety
protections, and more.^5
And now we have proof that some of Washington’s most high-powered
corporate lawyers were effectively stuffing wads of cash in Justice
Thomas’s pockets through Venmo.
Thomas isn’t the only Supreme Court justice in the news for hiding gifts,
sweetheart real estate deals, and conflicts of interest. Since these
scandals began erupting around the court, we’ve mobilized more than
100,000 people to demand Congress impose a code of ethics on the Court.
Now it’s happening.
Next week, a key Senate committee will vote on The Supreme Court Ethics,
Recusal, and Transparency Act, a bill that would require justices to
follow a clear code of ethics just like every other federal judge and the
other two branches of government. But this bill won’t become law unless we
can keep building public pressure.
[ [link removed] ]Will you donate $10 today to support Demand Progress
Action’s work, including demanding Congress pass the Supreme Court Ethics,
Recusal, and Transparency Act?
With gratitude for all that you do,
Tihi and the team at Demand Progress Action
[ [link removed] ]DONATE
Sources:
1. The Guardian, "Lawyers with supreme court business paid Clarence Thomas
aide via Venmo," [ [link removed] ]July 12, 2023.
2. ProPublica, "Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow
Paid the Tuition." [ [link removed] ]May 4, 2023.
3. ProPublica, "Billionaire Harlan Crow Bought Property From Clarence
Thomas. The Justice Didn’t Disclose the Deal." [ [link removed] ]April 13, 2023.
4. ProPublica, "Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire," [ [link removed] ]April 7, 2023.
5. The Lever, "Clarence Thomas Reversed Position After Gifts And Family
Payments," [ [link removed] ]May 9, 2023.
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