Supreme Court justice sells out bench’s integrity for trips on yacht, private jet

Revelations of the ethical lapses of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas further illustrate the endless plummet of rightwing character and raise the question of whether conservatives in America even care.

According to a disturbing report in Propublica, Thomas and his insurrection-curious wife, Ginni, have spent more than two decades enjoying lavish vacations paid for by Texas billionaire and Republican kingmaker Harlan Crow.

The Thomases’ junkets include accommodations at Crow’s private Adirondack Mountain resort and his Dallas-area ranch. At $55 million, Crow’s ranch is worth more than Mark Cuban’s, Tony Romo’s and Don Henley’s estates, combined.

When Ginni and Clarence Thomas aren’t staying at properties owned by Crow, they are using Crow’s private jet and 165-foot luxury yacht to travel the world, taking private tours of Indonesia and the Greek Isles. Aviation experts estimate that even domestic flights on Crow’s jet would cost upwards of $70,000 round trip if purchased on the open market. Crow even gifted Clarence Thomas a Bible, valued at $19,000, that once belonged to Frederick Douglass and a $15,000 bust of Abraham Lincoln.

Yet despite Crow’s suspicious largess and the Texan’s position as a prominent businessman, real estate mogul and Republican donor, Clarence Thomas hasn’t reported any of Crow’s gifts on his mandatory financial disclosure forms since 2004.

This, despite the fact that federal rules require all judges, including Supreme Court justices, to report anything they receive that has a value of greater than $415, to prevent corruption. There are specific exceptions, but transportation on private jets and trips on luxury yachts are not among them.

Thus we have a justice responsible for upholding order and laws flouting them in his private life.

Even more disturbing, this isn’t the first time the justice has been caught failing to disclose reportable gifts or income from a conservative lobbyist.

From 2003-07, Thomas failed to report more than a half-million dollars in reportable income earned by his wife from the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank known for climate change denialism, election denialism and other conspiracy theories.

In 2009, Thomas again failed to report income earned by his wife. This time from Liberty Central, an organization founded by Ginni Thomas using money donated by — you guessed it — Harlan Crow.

Thomas’ staggering venality and his view of his personal right to luxury are apparent throughout the stomach-churning details of the Propublica story. The Thomases are wealthy by any standards, especially because of special interests shoveling money into Ginni Thomas’ bank account simply for being Clarence’s wife. They could easily afford first-class on any airline. But that’s not good enough for them.

Instead, they require a billionaire’s private plane to transport them on their adventures in corruption. That way they can nestle into expensive leather seats, clink their Champagne flutes together and gaze mockingly down on the rest of America, living by the rules and working hard to earn our way. All of us little people, ants really from 40,000 feet above, who happen to believe in an honorable nation and a respect for laws.

Spending 20 years accepting extravagant gifts from Harlan Crow demonstrates that Thomas lacks good judgment, an essential trait in people whose job title is “judge.” Lining his family’s pockets with wildly expensive gifts while choosing not to report them demonstrates that Thomas lacks integrity and character. These are deficiencies that simply shouldn’t be allowed in members of the highest court in the land.

Members of the federal judiciary are supposed to be independent and beyond the fray of partisan politics. That’s specifically why federal judges are appointed for life rather than elected for a fixed term. Thomas’ willingness to accept Crow’s “gifts” and hide them from official legal documents wreaks of corruption and impropriety. It also calls into question every decision Thomas has participated in on the Supreme Court.

America deserves judges who are impeccable, not jostling with other swine looking for handouts from billionaires tossed in the trough.

Ethics laws exist for a reason and should be enforced equally for all federal officials. If he had honor, Clarence Thomas would resign immediately and save what little integrity and trust remains in him and the high court.

Thomas has already issued a statement refusing to accept responsibility for his choices and actions, so Congress should impeach him. That is unlikely with a Republican-controlled House of Representatives, so let all Americans pay attention to the message: Today’s GOP leadership ignores all norms of behavior and turns a blind eye to impropriety in its ranks.

We doubt either Thomas or Congress will do the right thing — let that sink in, it’s an amazing statement on its own — but at minimum, Thomas’ colleagues must adopt a more rigorous ethics code that has real teeth. The Supreme Court should have the highest standards and should fight to maintain them rather than hiding behind the lowest common denominator.

The Supreme Court is the backstop of American democracy but its effectiveness relies, in part, on the public’s faith that the court is an independent and impartial arbiter of law, not politics. We cannot afford to have corrupt officials like Clarence Thomas spend another 20 years sullying the court’s reputation and eroding the power of the judiciary.

Spending 20 years accepting extravagant gifts from Harlan Crow demonstrates that Thomas lacks good judgment, an essential trait in people whose job title is “judge.”