Nice little right wing takeover of the SCOTUS you’ve got there

Would be a shame if something happened to it:

In early January 2000, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

After almost a decade on the court, Thomas had grown frustrated with his financial situation, according to friends. He had recently started raising his young grandnephew, and Thomas’ wife was soliciting advice on how to handle the new expenses. The month before, the justice had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV.

At the resort, Thomas gave a speech at an off-the-record conservative conference. He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.

Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told him. If lawmakers didn’t act, “one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.

At the time, Thomas’ salary was $173,600, equivalent to over $300,000 today. But he was one of the least wealthy members of the court, and on multiple occasions in that period, he pushed for ways to make more money. In other private conversations, Thomas repeatedly talked about removing a ban on justices giving paid speeches.

Thomas’ efforts were described in records from the time obtained by ProPublica, including a confidential memo to Chief Justice William Rehnquist from a top judiciary official seeking guidance on what he termed a “delicate matter.”

The documents, as well as interviews, offer insight into how Thomas was talking about his finances in a crucial period in his tenure, just as he was developing his relationships with a set of wealthy benefactors.

Congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise. But in the years that followed, as ProPublica has reported, Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court. Some defrayed living expenses large and small — private school tuition, vehicle batteries, tires. Other gifts from a coterie of ultrarich men supplemented his lifestyle, such as free international vacations on the private jet and superyacht of Dallas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow.

Precisely what led so many people to offer Thomas money and other gifts remains an open question. There’s no evidence the justice ever raised the specter of resigning with Crow or his other wealthy benefactors.

George Priest, a Yale Law School professor who has vacationed with Thomas and Crow, told ProPublica he believes Crow’s generosity was not intended to influence Thomas’ views but rather to make his life more comfortable. “He views Thomas as a Supreme Court justice as having a limited salary,” Priest said. “So he provides benefits for him.”

A bunch of plutocrats straight up bought the 2000 presidential election. (Bush v. Gore was a 5-4 decision, and if Thomas had “retired” in 2000 he would have been replaced by Clinton appointment).

When Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas released a 2021 Kindle and Audiobook version of his bestselling 2007 memoir, a powerful longtime friend pitched in to juice the sales.

But even with that boost—which The Daily Beast reported came from conservative dark money mastermind Leonard Leo—the sales apparently didn’t take. At least, that’s according to Thomas’ 2021 financial disclosure, which listed no royalty income.

His most recent disclosure, which Thomas filed with an extension in August and covers the 2022 calendar year, doesn’t list royalties, either. In fact, Thomas hasn’t reported any royalty income since 2008, the year after the release of My Grandfather’s Son, a No. 1 New York Times bestseller that earned the justice what at the time was a stunning $1.5 million advance.

While that 14-year streak may sound absurd, there are a few explanations, ranging from scandalous to banal. But judicial ethics experts tell The Daily Beast that even the most benign and plausible explanation—that the memoir simply hasn’t sold enough copies to “earn out” beyond his huge advance—raises ethics concerns that apply to the justices more broadly.

BTW George Priest’s daughter Claire holds the Brian Ferentz Chair in Jurisprudence at Yale Law School (If you get this reference, seek professional help immediately. Also too, I suggest reading Priest’s statement to yourself in the voice of Ian Faith).