Due to the tremendous investigative journalism of ProPublica, we've learned over the past year of far right Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' affinity for expensive gifts from Republican oligarchs. From loans for a hyper-expensive RV to trips to Tahiti and elsewhere, Thomas' extensive grifting has led to calls for ethics rules for the Supreme Court. Today, ProPublica reports on an incident where Thomas' threatened to quit the Supreme Court if his salary wasn't increased from $173,600 per year:
"In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.
After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’ wife was soliciting advice on how to handle the new expenses. The month before, the justice had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV.
At the resort, Thomas gave a speech at an off-the-record conservative conference. He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.
Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told him. If lawmakers didn’t act, 'one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.'" [snip]
Thomas’ efforts were described in records from the time obtained by ProPublica, including a confidential memo to Chief Justice William Rehnquist from a top judiciary official seeking guidance on what he termed a 'delicate matter.'
The documents, as well as interviews, offer insight into how Thomas was talking about his finances in a crucial period in his tenure, just as he was developing his relationships with a set of wealthy benefactors." (our emphasis)
Over the years, Thomas has grown accustomed to five-star beach resorts and trips on private yachts and jets supplied by his right-wing benefactors. His champagne tastes weren't supported by his humble Supreme Court salary, so he started taking what in any other universe would be considered bribes or payoffs. The greedy jurist must feel that his usually silent presence on the Supreme Court warranted a big boost in pay to live a life of luxury, screw the optics. We've had some execrable Justices (Roger Taney for example), and corrupt grifter Clarence Thomas is right there with them at the nadir.
(photo: A smug Clarence Thomas. Eric Lee via Getty Images)
