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mostlysignssomeportents · 1 year

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Clarence Thomas and the generosity of a far-right dark-money billionaire

Clarence Thomas has set some important precedents in his career as a Supreme Court justice — for example, the elevation of the unrepentant rapist Brett Kavanaugh to the bench could never have occurred but for the trail blazed by Thomas as a sexually harassing, pubic-hair distributing creep boss:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/10/01/30-years-after-her-testimony-anita-hill-still-wants-something-from-joe-biden-514884

If you’d like an essay-formatted version of this post to read or share, here’s a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/04/06/clarence-thomas/#harlan-crow

Today, Thomas continues to steer the court into new territory — for example, he’s interested in banning same-sex marriage again:

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/24/thomas-constitutional-rights-00042256

And of course, he’s set precedent by hearing cases related to the attempted overthrow of the US government, despite the role his wife played in the affair:

https://www.npr.org/2022/03/30/1089595933/legal-ethics-experts-agree-justice-thomas-must-recuse-in-insurrection-cases

Thomas is not alone in furthering the right’s mission to destroy the morale of constitutional law scholars by systematically delegitimizing the court and showing it to be a vehicle for partisan politics and dark money policy laundering, but he is certainly at the vanguard:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/03/25/consequentialism/#dotards-in-robes

Today, Propublica published an expose on the vast fortune in secret gifts bestowed upon Thomas by the billionare GOP megadonor Harlan Crow, who is also one the most significant funders of political campaigns that put business before Thomas and the Supreme Court:

https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow

The story, reported by Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott and Alex Mierjeski is a masterwork of shoe-leather investigative journalism, drawing on aviation records, social media posts and other “open source” intelligence to expose the illegal, off-the-books “gifts” from a billionaire to an unaccountable Supreme Court justice with a lifetime appointment.

Here are a two of those gifts: a private jet/superyacht jaunt around Indonesia valued at $500,000; and a $500,000 gift to Ginni Thomas’s Tea Party group (which pays Ginni Thomas $120,000/year).

On top of that are gifts that are literally priceless: decades’ worth of summer vacations at Camp Topridge, Crow’s private estate, with its waterfall, great hall, private chefs, 25 fireplaces, thee boathouses, clay tennis court, batting range, 1950s-style soda fountain and full-scale reproduction of Hagrid’s hut.

Summer retreats to Topridge allow business leaders like Leonard Leo — the Federalist Society bankroller and mastermind who set Trump up to pack the Supreme Court — to coordinate in private with Thomas:

https://pluralistic.net/2020/09/29/betcha-cant-eat-just-one/#pwnage

They also allow top execs from PWC, Verizon and other corporations who may have business before the court to establish a warm, collegial relationship with a judge whose decisions can make billions for their employers. In its reporting, Propublica points out that Thomas got to hang out on Crow’s superyacht with Mark Paoletta, who was then general counsel for Trump’s OMB, and who has opposed any tightening of ethics rules for Supreme Court judges: “there is nothing wrong with ethics or recusals at the Supreme Court.”

Crow and Thomas also hobnob together at Crow’s Texas ranch, and at the Bohemian Grove, the Bay Area’s ultra-luxe retreat for rich creeps. Crow bought Thomas a private superyacht cruise through New Zealand, another through the Greek islands, and a river trip around Savannah, GA. He also traveled around the country on Crow’s private jet — even a short private jet trip is valued around $70,000.

Crow also makes many donations on Thomas’s behalf, from a $105,000 donation to Yale Law School for the “Justice Thomas Portrait Fund” to paying for a 7 foot tall, 1,800 lb bronze statue of the nun who taught Thomas in the eighth grade, which now stands in a New York Catholic cemetery.

This is without precedent. No Supreme Court justice in US history received comparable gifts during their tenure on the bench. Federal judges quoted in the story call it “incomprehensible,” noting that US judges bend over backwards not to owe anyone any favors, going so far as to book restaurant reservations without using their titles.

Virginia Canter, a former US government ethics lawyer of bipartisan experience said Thomas “seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations,” adding “it makes my heart sink.”

The Supreme Court’s own code of ethics prohibits justices from engaging in conduct that gives rise to the “appearance of impropriety,” but the code is “consultative,” and there are no penalties for violating it. But US judicial officers — including Thomas — are legally required to disclose things like private jet trips. Thomas did not. In general, justices must report any gift valued at more than $415, where a gift is “anything of value.” This includes instances in which a gift is given by a corporation whose owner is the true giver.

Crow is a Red Scare-haunted plutocrat who says his greatest fear is “Marxism.” He was a key donor to the anti-tax extremists at the Club For Growth, and has served on the board of the American Enterprise Institute — climate deniers who also claimed that smoking didn’t cause cancer — for 25 years.

Crow is a proud dark-money source, too, whose $10m in acknowledged donations to Republican causes and candidates are only the tip of the iceberg, next to the dark money he has provided to groups he declines to name, telling the New York Times, “I don’t disclose what I’m not required to disclose.”

Crow claims that the vast sums he’s lavished on Thomas — who, again, presides over the test cases that Crow is helping to put before him — are just “hospitality.” Crow called the private retreats with business leaders and top government officials “gatherings of friends,” and added that he was “unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas” while at his private estates or on his superyacht or private plane.

For his part, Thomas publicly maintains that he hates luxury. In a Crow-financed documentary about Thomas’s life, Thomas tells the camera, “I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There’s something normal to me about it. I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that.”

Judges often have to make determinations about conflicts of interest, and lawyers have an entire practice devoted to preventing conflicts from arising. I doubt whether Thomas himself would consent to have a dispute of his own tried in front of a judge who had received millions in gifts from his opponent.

The Supreme Court’s power comes from its legitimacy. The project of delegitimizing the court started with the right, and Democrats have been loathe to participate in any activity that would worsen the court’s reputation. As a result, the business lobby and authoritarian politicians have had free rein to turn the court into a weapon for attacking American workers, American women, and LGBTQ people.

It doesn’t have to be this way. When the Supreme Court blocked all of FDR’s New Deal policies — which were wildly popular — FDR responded by proposing age limits for Supreme Court judges. When the Supremes refused to contemplate this, FDR asked Congress for a law allowing him to appoint one new Supreme Court judge for every judge who should retire but wouldn’t.

As the vote on this bill grew nearer, the Supremes reversed themselves, voting to uphold the policies they’d struck down in their previous session. They knew that their legitimacy was all they had, and when a brave president stood up to their bullying, they caved.

https://theconversation.com/packing-the-court-amid-national-crises-lincoln-and-his-republicans-remade-the-supreme-court-to-fit-their-agenda-147139

The Supreme Court has moved America further away from the ideals of pluralistic democracy than we can even fathom, and they’re just getting started. They are taking a wrecking ball to the lives of anyone who isn’t a wealthy conservative, and they’re doing it while accepting a fortune in bribes from American oligarchs.

Have you ever wanted to say thank you for these posts? Here’s how you can: I’m kickstarting the audiobook for my next novel, a post-cyberpunk anti-finance finance thriller about Silicon Valley scams called Red Team Blues. Amazon’s Audible refuses to carry my audiobooks because they’re DRM free, but crowdfunding makes them possible.

Image: Mr. Kjetil Ree (modified) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Supreme_Court.JPG

CC BY-SA 3.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en

[Image ID: An altered image of Clarence Thomas, standing in gilded judicial robes on the steps of the Supreme Court. Looming over the court is a line-drawing of a business-man with a dollar-sign-emblazoned money-bag for a head.]

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blasteffect · 3 months

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The LISA

The Lisa (Laser Interferometer Space Antenna) mission, led by ESA (European Space Agency) with NASA contributions, will detect gravitational waves in space using three spacecraft, separated by more than a million miles, flying in a triangular formation.

Lasers fired between the satellites, shown in this artist's concept, will measure how gravitational waves alter their relative distances.

AEI/MM/Exozet

#art #cosmos #cosmic #universe #blast #space #lisa #laser #esa #nasa #science #spacecraft #artist concept #AEI #MM #exozet #space exploration

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hakunakii · 4 months

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however, SECOND DRAMATIC REVEAL:

in retrospect, a great many of those asks were not me, actually

i was just the one talking about your OC, the ones that made no sense were someone else

I KNEW IT

#aei I'm coming for you #I'm coming for you aei #aei

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rad-is-more · 2 years

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star of the show!

AKA Aoi stealing the spotlight while everyone else gets ready for the big breakdown

#ruki sipping some water in the back... reita getting a change of bass... aoi: MY TIME TO SHINE HAS ARRIVED!!!#Rad watches things #20th anniversary #The GazettE #Aei

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officialyourdailyinspiration · 2 years

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American fathers are today more removed from family life than ever before in our history,” wrote sociologist David Popenoe in his pathbreaking book, Life Without Father. “And according to a growing body of evidence, this massive erosion of fatherhood contributes mightily to many of the major social problems of our time...

#American Enterprise Institute #society and culture #Life Without Father #AEI #aei.org

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sucka99 · 1 month

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#thinktank #cato #heritage #aei

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astratv · 1 year

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Συνεδριάζει η Επιτροπή Μορφωτικών Υποθέσεων της Βουλής για ΑΕΙ και επιστημονική παρουσία τους στη χώρα

Ειδική συνεδρίαση στην Επιτροπή Μορφωτικών Υποθέσεων για τα πανεπιστήμια της χώρας και την παρουσίαση των στρατηγικών σχεδιασμών τους θα διοργανωθεί σύντομα με πρωτοβουλία του προέδρου της, καθηγητή Βασίλη Διγαλάκη. Αυτό ανακοίνωσε ο ίδιος ο κ. Διγαλάκης στην 101η Σύνοδο πρυτάνεων των ΑΕΙ που ολοκληρώθηκε χθες στην Αθήνα, στην οποία και ο πρόεδρος της Επιτροπής Μορφωτικών Υποθέσεων της Βουλής…

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#aei #Βασίλης Διγαλάκης #Βουλή #υπουργός παιδείας

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demiurgeua · 2 years

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Перші 200 днів повномасштабної російсько-української війни 2022 року

З квітня 2022 року українські воїни звільнили від рашистських окупантів понад 60 тисяч квадратних кілометрів території України. Попереду повне звільнення від рашистів Миколаївщини, Харківщини, Херсонщини, Донеччини, Луганщини, Запоріжжя і Криму. Interactive Map: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/36a7f6a6f5a9448496de641cf64bd375 Institute for the Study of…

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#AEI #American Enterprise Institute #Critical Threats Project #Інститут вивчення війни #Американський інститут підприємництва #ЗСУ #Збройні Сили України #Звільнення #Карта #Російське вторгнення в Україну #Російсько-українська війна #Територія #Institute for the Study of War #ISW

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tijuanaenlineanoticias · 2 years

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Detienen a presunto violador en Rosarito

Playas de Rosarito, 14 de septiembre de 2022.- La Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) aprehendió a Alejandro “N”, en Playas de Rosarito por su probable responsabilidad en el delito de violación impropia agravada. Fue el pasado 13 de septiembre, cerca de las 15:00 horas, cuando los elementos de la AEI cumplimentaron el mandamiento judicial, que emitió el juez de control; el sujeto fue detenido…

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#AEI #orden de aprehension #presunto violador

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notimundo · 2 years

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New Post has been published on https://notimundo.com.mx/estados/detienen-a-javier-n-ex-pareja-de-cecilia-monzon/

Detienen a Javier 'N', ex pareja de Cecilia Monzón

La Fiscalía General del Estado (FGE) detuvo al exdiputado Javier ‘N’ este 06 de junio en la ciudad de Puebla, se le presume presuntamente relacionado con el feminicidio de la activista Cecilia Monzón.

Asesinaron a balazos a la activista Cecilia Monzón en San Pedro Cholula, Puebla, el pasado 21 de mayo, cuando conducía un vehículo por calles del municipio.

El exdiputado fue pareja sentimental de la activista y abogada, con quien tuvo un hijo.

La captura la realizaron los elementos de la Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) en las inmediaciones de la Parroquia de la Coronación de Nuestra Madre, en Puebla, de acuerdo al Registro Nacional de Detenciones.

#AEI #Cecilia Monzón #FGE #Javier "N"#Puebla

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enlacedelacosta · 2 years

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En colaboración con Fiscalía de Quintana Roo, logra AEI aprehensión de probable feminicida en Oaxaca

>> Se trata del masculino G. J. G. M., quien en junio de 2019 probablemente habría privado de la vida a la mujer E. S. B., en Playa del Carmen

>> Se trata del masculino G. J. G. M., quien en junio de 2019 probablemente habría privado de la vida a la mujer E. S. B., en Playa del Carmen (more…)