Former Liberal Supreme Court Justice Comes To The Defense Of Clarence Thomas Following Attacks From The Radical Left

Former Associate Justice of the Supreme Court Stephen Breyer, who was appointed by Bill Clinton (D) in 1994, defended the integrity of current Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, who was appointed by George Herbert Walker Bush back in 1991. The investigative journalist outlet ProPublica recently published an article detailing Justice Thomas had been accepting “luxury trips” from a billionaire admirer for two decades without disclosing them.

Justice Thomas has released a statement acknowledging the “personal hospitality” given to him by “close personal friends” and stated he had always “sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines” when they were applicable. Thomas maintains in this instance he was advised by “colleagues and others in the judiciary” that such gifts by people who did not have business before the Court were “as not reportable”.

The former liberal Justice Breyer defended the integrity of his conservative colleague. He said that “As far as I’m concerned, I sat next to him on the bench for 28 years. I like him. He’s a friend of mine. I’ve never seen him do anything underhanded or say anything underhanded. My personal point of view is he’s a man of integrity.”

In Justice Thomas’s full statement, he too underscored that he had always sought to follow the ethical guidelines expected of a judge. He wrote that “Harlan and Kathy Crow [the aforementioned billionaire admirers] are among our dearest friends, and we have been friends for over twenty-five years. As friends do, we have joined them on a number of family trips during the more than quarter century we have known them.”

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The statement continued by saying that “Early in my tenure at the Court, I sought guidance from my colleagues and others in the judiciary, and was advised that this sort of personal hospitality from close personal friends, who did not have business before the Court, was not reportable. I have endeavored to follow that counsel throughout my tenure, and have always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines. These guidelines are now being changed, as the committee of the Judicial Conference responsible for financial disclosure for the entire federal judiciary just this past month announced new guidance. And, it is, of course, my intent to follow this guidance in the future.”

In terms of what the law and what the guideline was on this matter, a USA TODAY article admits that “[e]thics and legal experts told USA TODAY on Friday that Supreme Court law and policy is indeed vague when it comes to such gifts. While the justices are required to report gifts they have received on their annual financial disclosure reports, an exemption is allowed for hospitality from friends…” But it is true that the U.S. Supreme Court has never had a binding code of ethics, unlike every other court in the country,” said [Lisa] Graves, who was also chief counsel for judicial nominations for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee. “And that reform is long overdue.”

According to The Hill, new regulations on what should be disclosed by Supreme Court justices went into effect on March 14th, 2023 that clarified “that the justices — and all federal judges — must disclose gifts and free stays at commercial properties, or when gifts of hospitality are being reimbursed by a third party who is not the person providing it.”