Ginni Thomas Lauded Group Opposing SCOTUS Ethics Reform
After a summer of scrutiny of the ethical practices of Supreme Court justices and their spouses, Ginni Thomas is once again proving the need for reform within the court.
Thomas — the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas — has lavished praise on a legal group opposing the Biden administration’s efforts to introduce a binding code of ethics to the Supreme Court.
ProPublica reported on Wednesday that Kelly Shackelford, president and CEO of First Liberty Institute, read an email from Thomas during a July 31 phone call with major donors to the conservative political group.
“YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH,” Thomas wrote in the email, in praise of First Liberty’s work opposing efforts to strengthen justices ethical obligations to the public.
Shackelford told donors that the email was an affirmation of the work they were doing on behalf of judges who “can’t go out into the political sphere and fight.”
“It’s neat that, you know, those of you on the call are a part of protecting the future of our court, and they really appreciate it,” he added.
If Shackelford’s views weren’t explicit enough, he went on to attack Justice Elena Kagan as “treasonous” and “disloyal” for advocating for an external mechanism of enforcement of the Supreme Court’s ethics guidelines.
The battle over Supreme Court ethics reform intensified in May after Justice Samuel Alito refused to recuse himself from cases related to Jan. 6 despite reports that the justice had flown flags associated with the movement to overturn the 2020 election results outside of his residences.
Alito blamed his wife, Martha-Ann Alito, for flying one of the flag’s outside of the couple’s home.
Mrs. Alito is by no means the first Supreme Court spouse to invite controversy into the court. Ginni Thomas has plenty of her own links to the 2020 “Stop the Steal” movement, and has been a party in the scandal surrounding her husband’s relationship with influential conservative billionaires.
In the aftermath of the 2020 election, Ginni Thomas was an active voice in efforts by pro-Trump Republicans to subvert the result of the vote. Thomas sent dozens of text messages to White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows urging him to stop Democrats from carrying out “the greatest Heist of our History.”
Thomas also urged Republican lawmakers to take to “the streets” to protest the election results.
ProPublica has reported extensively on the relationship between the Thomases and conservative billionaire Harlan Crow. The wealthy conservative donor has lavished the couple with rides on private jets and luxury yachts, expensive vacations, tuition payments, and even the purchase of properties.
Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are leading the push to bring comprehensive reform to the court. It’s “crystal clear that the highest court needs an enforceable code of conduct,” Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in June. “Despite an approval rating near all-time lows and never-ending, self-inflicted scandals, Chief Justice Roberts still refuses to use his existing authority to implement an enforceable code of conduct. Until he acts, we will continue our push for the Supreme Court Ethics, Recusal, and Transparency Act to become law.”
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