Still uncovering Clarence Thomas corruption

It may never end.

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.

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Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told [Florida Republican representative Cliff Sterns]. If lawmakers didn’t act, “one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.

At the time, Thomas’ salary was $173,600, equivalent to over $300,000 today. But he was one of the least wealthy members of the court, and on multiple occasions in that period, he pushed for ways to make more money.

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[Thomas' conversation with Sterns] set off a flurry of activity across the judiciary and Capitol Hill. “His importance as a conservative was paramount,” Stearns said in a recent interview. “We wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job and he was being paid properly.”

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Congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise. But in the years that followed, as ProPublica has reported, Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court.

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[T]here is no revolving-door payday waiting on the other side of a lifetime appointment to the Supreme Court.

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In 2000, justices were paid more than cabinet secretaries or members of Congress, and far more than the average American. Still, judges’ salaries were not keeping pace with inflation, a source of ire throughout the federal judiciary. Young associates at top law firms made more than Supreme Court justices, while partners at the firms could earn millions a year.

  ProPublica

Being one of the most powerful people in the country able to influence everything in society and government apparently doesn't satisfy some people. And I'm going to guess that Clarence Thomas would not have been able to get a private gig that paid him millions.

[I]n a 2001 speech praising the value of public service [Thomas said,] “The job is not worth doing for what they pay. It’s not worth doing for the grief,” he said. “But it is worth doing for the principle.”

Really? Was he getting all those freebies and luxury gifts by then?

Around that time, Thomas was also pushing to allow justices to make paid speeches — a source of income that had been banned in the 1980s.

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At Sen. Mitch McConnell’s request, a provision removing the ban for judges was quietly inserted into a spending bill in mid-2000. Why McConnell made the proposal became a subject of scrutiny in the legal press. After the Legal Times reported the measure had been dubbed the “Keep Scalia on the Court” bill, Scalia responded that the “honorarium ban makes no difference to me” and denied that he would ever leave the court for financial reasons.

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During his second decade on the court, Thomas’ financial situation appears to have markedly improved.

Due to gifts from uber wealthy Republicans, particularly Harlan Crow.

By 2019, the justices’ pay hadn’t changed beyond keeping up with inflation. But Thomas’ views had apparently transformed from two decades before. That June, during a public appearance, Thomas was asked about salaries at the court. “Oh goodness, I think it’s plenty,” Thomas responded. “My wife and I are doing fine.

Indeed.

A few weeks later, Thomas boarded Crow’s private jet to head to Indonesia. He and his wife were off on vacation, an island cruise on Crow’s 162-foot yacht.

Thomas' talk with Sterns was in 2000, so the threat of him quitting was a big deal to Republicans. Obama would have appointed a replacement. Thomas may not be smart, but he's not stupid.

I watched a documentary on Clarence and Ginni Thomas recently.  They were both seriously emotionally and socially damaged people before they ever rose to prominence in politics.  All these things we read about them now shouldn't have been surprises. 

UPDATE 12/19/2023: