Democrats Unimpressed With Clarence Thomas’s Feeble Attempt At Transparency

//

(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

This late-come effort at “Clean-up on Aisle Three” won’t deter us from fully investigating the massive, secret, right-wing billionaire influence in which this Court is enmired.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); });

— Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) tweeted out this scathing response to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s latest financial disclosure. Whitehouse, the chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee on federal courts and oversight, has been a frequent critic of Thomas’s lack of disclosures.

Sponsored NetDocuments’ Rebecca Sattin On Customer-First Approach And Future-Proofing Your Firm How a customer-focused transition from Worldox to NetDocuments sets the stage for a future of successful tech advancement. From Ethan Beberness  

Whitehouse continued in a lengthy X thread (below) to dismantle the arguments of Elliot Berke, Thomas’s lawyer, that attempted to justify the disclosures.

Buried in Thomas’s lawyers’ overheated partisan rhetoric lie two key assertions: one, that “new guidance … revised reporting requirements”; and two, that his failures weren’t “willful.”

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); });

First, the assertion that reporting requirements were “revised” excuses prior misconduct. It’s more likely that the reporting requirements were explained, not revised, and were always thus. In fact, the Conference’s letter to me said that the new guidance “clarifies” the rules.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

Bear in mind that “at the time,” the Judicial Conference had a Financial Disclosure Committee that Thomas could have asked, instead of hiding the ball, obliging all this after-the-fact clean-up when caught.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

Sponsored Sponsored Documenting Secured Transactions: A New Guide For Practitioners A newly updated PLI treatise provides both the legal framework and practical guidance on documenting secured transactions, including important details about 2022 amendments to the UCC. From Practising Law Institute   Sponsored NetDocuments’ Rebecca Sattin On Customer-First Approach And Future-Proofing Your Firm How a customer-focused transition from Worldox to NetDocuments sets the stage for a future of successful tech advancement. From Ethan Beberness   Sponsored Webinar: How Private Equity Is Gaining A Competitive Edge With AI Join Ontra and guests from Insight Partners and Harvard Business School as they discuss how firms can capitalize on AI while mitigating risk From Ontra   Sponsored Survey Results: A Perspective On The Private Markets Ontra surveyed over 400 private markets professionals about what to expect this year and their legal process pain points. From Kerry G. Benn, Ontra  

Thomas now says that he *did* ask Judicial Conference employees – though not necessarily the CFD – early in his tenure. He originally said only that he consulted his colleagues and “others in the judiciary.”

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

Their heated denial that the omissions were “willful” is important because by law questions of willfulness are referred to the Attorney General, where a real and independent investigation could ensue.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

They are obviously desperate to avoid that, to keep this mess in the clubby precincts of the Court and the justices’ own private lawyers.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); });

Bear in mind too that these secret gifts would not be acceptable anywhere else in the federal government.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

Last, don’t be misled by the “business before the Court” issue — billionaire donors to justices have had business before the Court; they appear also through amici; and they maintain a wholesale effort to capture and control the Court.

— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) August 31, 2023

Sponsored Sponsored Survey Results: A Perspective On The Private Markets Ontra surveyed over 400 private markets professionals about what to expect this year and their legal process pain points. From Kerry G. Benn, Ontra   Sponsored Experience AI-Powered Contract Negotiation With Ontra Tired of negotiating and managing routine contracts? Ontra makes the most of human expertise and proprietary AI assistance to automate contracts like never before. From Ethan Beberness   Topics

Clarence Thomas, Judicial Ethics, Quote of the Day, Sheldon Whitehouse, Supreme Court