Clarence Thomas again

Created
Sat, 23/09/2023 - 00:30
Updated
Sat, 23/09/2023 - 00:30
ProPublica is back with more The deck on ProPublica’s latest expose on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court. Thomas flew into the weekend 2018 Koch summit in Palm Springs aboard a Gulfstream G200 jet. “A Koch network spokesperson said the network did not pay for the private jet.” Since Thomas never disclosed the trip, ProPublica cannot say who did. Pay. To. Play. https://t.co/6n9z1AHsHM — Dahlia Lithwick (@Dahlialithwick) September 22, 2023 “I can’t imagine — it takes my breath away, frankly — that he would go to a Koch network event for donors,” said John E. Jones III, a retired federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush. Jones said that if he had gone to a Koch summit as a district court judge, “I’d have gotten a letter that would’ve commenced a disciplinary proceeding.” “What you’re seeing is a slow creep toward unethical behavior. Do it if you can get away with it,” Jones said. It’s not clear how to read that last sentence, but U.S. Supreme Court Justices police their own behavior and do not have to abide by the code of conduct others in the federal judiciary must. And, yes, the libertarian Koch has a case working its way to Thomas: The Koch network is among the largest and most influential political organizations of the last half century, and…