Senators Politely Ask Clarence Thomas To Cut The Crap

[sl8]

https://abovethelaw.com/2024/05/senators-politely-ask-clarence-thomas-to-cut-the-crap/

Senators Politely Ask Clarence Thomas To Cut The Crap

Clarence Thomas continues to lawyerball the Senate.

By JOE PATRICE
on May 17, 2024 at 2:45 PM

Of all the many, many, many, many severe ethical lapses leveled against Justice Clarence Thomas, the loan he received from a health care executive to buy an RV is… one of them. Thomas, known to leverage his RV habit as proof that he’s just a regular down-to-earth guy, purchased camper for over a quarter million dollars provided, in whole or in part, by executive Anthony Welters. Welter and Thomas characterized this as a “loan,” which raises ethical obligations of its own, but the question on everyone’s mind is whether or not Thomas took advantage of his famous support of loan forgiveness… as long as it’s solely for his benefit.

When Senators Ron Wyden and Sheldon Whitehouse asked Thomas about this loan and how much of it turned out to be a gift, the justice’s attorney Elliot Berke responded: “As I stated publicly on October 26, 2023, the Thomases made all payments to Mr. Welters on a regular basis until the terms of the agreement were satisfied in full.”

As both Wyden and Whitehouse are attorneys and capable of basic reading comprehension, they noticed that this response was not “yes, Thomas paid it off completely.” They have now politely asked Berke to cut the shit.

Unfortunately, the response you provided on Justice Thomas’s behalf was a non-answer. Instead of clearly stating the extent to which Justice Thomas repaid the loan, you stated that Justice Thomas made “payments to Mr. Welters on a regular basis until the terms of the agreement were satisfied in full.” As I’m sure you are aware, “satisfied” could have any number of meanings in the context of repayment, forgiveness, or discharge of debt. There should be a simple answer as to whether Justice Thomas had hundreds of thousands in debt forgiven so that he could retain possession of a luxury motor coach that doubles as a second home.

[...]

[oldsoftie]

1. Keep up the pressure. Expose the fraud.

[gab13by13]

2. It's done in the open

what's to expose? Does anyone believe the IRS or Merrick Garland will investigate Clarence Thomas?

[calimary]

4. They need to. Why is he "untouchable"?

THAT RIGHT THERE is why we need a strict code of ethics imposed on the Supreme Court. And we need it RIGHT NOW.

https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/supreme-court-ethics-reform

And we need this URGENTLY and IMMEDIATELY!!!

Like NOW!!!

[krkaufman]

9. Not sure what even that would do.

Without an effective means of removing someone from the Court, a code of conduct isn’t worth the yada yada yada.

[Irish_Dem]

13. I thought it was a crime for federal officials to accept large bribes

for services rendered.

A federal crime.

[Irish_Dem]

12. I'm sure Garland will get right on it.

Right after he goes for the members of congress who were part of the insurrection.

[surfered]

3. Love Sen. Whitehouse

[et tu]

5. yes! he is persistent and moral

[FBaggins]

6. "Polite" because it's pretty much the only option

Thomas’ lawyer has already “politely” told them to take a hike. And he isn’t “lawyerballing the Senate”… he’s telling two senators that they aren’t the senate.

If they have the majority behind them and a legitimate justification … then send a subpoena.

[sl8]

7. Good points. nt

[COL Mustard]

10. The Justices really are

A law unto themselves. There’s no penalty except impeachment and removal, but that ain’t happening in the current political environment.

[jaxexpat]

14. .........another item of priority on our, "reasons to vote in the November election", list.

Re-elect Joe, take the senate by 2/3rds and get back the house. If those margins are right, everything else will fall into place by its own gravity.

And now......... its soapbox time:

Democracy is supposed to be a give and take, a symmetry of compromises to provide a product enjoyed by the many, a bulwark to hold back domination by a tyrannical few. We, as a self-governed nation, are always in a state of flux. It accurately reflects the nature of life itself. There is no eternal, abiding state of nature in any explanation for our existence and won't be so long as time is the metric. The only eternal truth is the fact of change. We can fight it forever, exhausting our energies by "tilting at windmills" or we can accept it's supremacy, observe and learn. Those who have taken on the identity of "conservative" are the windmill tilters. Progressives tend to be more accepting and tolerant of difference and often even embrace change. The current attitude of our turning worm is one wherein conservatism has bloomed dictatorial. The longer that state of being remains, the more violent the inevitable adjustment. Democracy exists as a damper, mollifying the pain of that inevitability. Terms and concepts of logical inevitability are contemptibly foreign to minds preoccupied with fruitless exercise and a weird aversion to windmills.

I don't think it's for nothing that the last few decades' habitual propagation of fitness training and gyms purpose built for the expenditure of energy without product parallels the rise of "conservatism". It, in my mind, mimics the phenomenal construction of for-profit prisons which have arisen in parallel with the propagation of gated communities. Maybe that's because gates are so versatile: they keep things out as well as in.

And maybe, Trump has largely and consistently leveled the anger of his campaign onto some irrational hatred of windmills because, traditionally, the wind is free and that is anathema to the Republican's dearest tenant, anything free is useless because you can't sell it for profit. In any case, his hatred and the salability of his peevishness will not stop the wind, though it may fearfully try for a time. The worm, it just keeps turning.

[FBaggins]

16. Take the Senate by 2/3rds?

Not possible any time soon. We couldn’t get there even if we won 100% of the senate races in November

This year we’ll be lucky to keep the loss to 50/50 with a VP tie breaker.

[jaxexpat]

17. Yeah, I know.

The realistic optimism says enough Republicans voters will let the party come to understand they're tired of the circus and like the benefits progressivism has given them, including abortion access. It might provide some Republican senators who will work with the Democrats on grass-roots issues.

[multigraincracker]

8. Cancelled checks will work.

Now what’s the problem with that. Open your books to let the sun shine in.

[Irish_Dem]

11. Translation: Thomas is lying, he never paid back the money.

It was a gift.

[DFW]

15. That's the trouble with trying to pull lawyer tricks on lawyers

They tend to spot them.

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. "terms of the agreement were satisfied in full" - Translation:

Thomas made the rulings that Welters wanted.