More Clarence Thomas weirdness today. His top aide, Rajan Vasisht, was responsible for collecting payments from guests to Thomas's annual Christmas party:
Vasisht’s Venmo account — which was public prior to requesting comment for this article and is no longer — show that he received seven payments in November and December 2019 from lawyers who previously served as Thomas legal clerks. The amount of the payments is not disclosed, but the purpose of each payment is listed as either “Christmas party”, “Thomas Christmas Party”, “CT Christmas Party” or “CT Xmas party”, in an apparent reference to the justice’s initials.
Almost all of the lawyers who made the payments are senior litigators at big law firms.
So . . . former Thomas clerks who are now senior attorneys were apparently being charged admission to Thomas's party. I don't know if that's illegal, but it's a little unusual, isn't it? Do people normally charge guests to come to a holiday party? Corrupt or not, Thomas sure is a weird dude.
Pay to play with Clarence and his crooked wife.
I'm sure it was for charity.
And charity begins at home.
"Do people normally charge guests to come to a holiday party?"
Ferengi do!
Ferengi rule of acquisition #45!
i'm coming to understand nothing is illegal if you're a republican supreme court justice.
Don’t worry Mr Integrity Roberts is on the job.
And has any organization, ever, been able to self-police themselves?
The best way to end racism is not to see it.
The best way to end corruption is not to see it.
Oh, this is just perfectly normal, nothing to get excited about.
Like, there was a vacancy at that party, and if they hadn't paid to fill it, nobody else would have occupied that space by the cigar bar!
They're good friends hanging out, nothing to see here.
This crap just keeps getting stranger, but I have the feeling it is the kind of strange that comes right before "just stick the bribe in the slot, the price list is posted."
The charges might not bother me because we don't know the amounts. Back in the day everyone coming to the office Christmas party had to pony up. So what might be bothersome is if the Thomas party included more than his clerks, SCOTUS staff (with whom he reportedly has good relations) and former clerks. If these lawyers aren't former clerks, it's improper.
BTW, it should have been a "Holiday party".
These are former employees attending a party at someone's house. Nothing like an office party. And Thomas is a wealthy man. Would you ever try to defray party costs on your guests? I wouldn't.
Where does it say the party was at Thomas's house?
This may be as simple as a dinner at a restaurant with Thomas or Vasisht pain the bill and each attendee the paying his share to whoever paid the bill.
In principle it is possible, but if really there is an innocent explanation he should have given it. So it seems there isn't such an explanation.
Thomas, rightly or wrongly, has a massive chip on his shoulder. It seems clear that he will ignore stories like this rather than respond to them whatever the true story is.
Meanwhile I want to know if there is really evidence that this was a party at Thomas's house or if realrobmac just made that up.
Many years ago my company was working with the FDIC, to purchase a few $ Billions in assets from a failed bank. These folks wouldn't even take a cup of coffee or a bagel at our business meetings.
If Thomas didn't have a lifetime appointment, as federal employee he would have been fired already.
As a faceless .gov employee, I’m held to a higher standard than a Supreme Court Justice.
However, because I live irony, my management isn’t held to that same standard.
At this point it would surprise me if Thomas required the money to be placed in bags with dollar signs on them.
Shorter version: 'Blatant corruption sure is weird.'
It's starting to look like the GOPs will throw Thomas under the bus and claim the whole problem is solved.
I wish this was true. But I don't see it.
Maybe if they had control of the presidency and senate.
I don't know where you get that idea. For Republicans to turn on Thomas, they would have to have character and a sense of shame. As they say, however, shamelessness is their superpower.
Remember the three tenets of Trumpism: never admit you're wrong; never back down; always accuse your opponents of doing what you're secretly doing.
Throw Thomas under the bus? Why? IOKIYAR.
They will only through Thomas under the bus if and when there is a Republican in the Oval Office.
and only then because it would be a way to game the system and appoint a younger justice. otherwise they wouldn't give a shit about his corruption.
Concur.
+1
I'm just glad to see someone other than ProPublica finally getting interested in the wide-open corruption in the court.
On the one hand, every time they seem to hit a new low, something else comes along to remind you there's just no bottom.
OTOH, maybe they have a tradition in his chambers that the former clerks all go in on some group gift to give him at the party and leave the details to this (taxpayer-funded) aide. A modest token surely, but considering the high-dollar work they do, maybe something like a new RV so he can go hang with his peeps at those Walmart parking lots?
Is there a max amount you can venmo?
For decades, Justice Thomas has been protected by the "high tech lynching!!" epithet. Nobody wants to come out as a "racist" by investigating The Black Man. Even during the Obama administration, when going after a high placed black man was the national sport, Thomas stood untouched. (Hey! He might have been wearing a tan suit under those robes!) The worst reporters would say about Thomas was that he never asked questions, contributed, or spoke in hearings before the court.
What's changed?
Makes one wonder: why was it okay for Senators Hatch, Simpson, Grassley, Leahy, Kennedy, Biden et al to preform a high tech lynching of Anita Hill? Guess it was back in the days when there was a glimmer about racism, but if a woman charged one of the guys with improper behavior, SOP was for the guys to stick together and and all say “it was her fault”.
If I remember right, it was 3 bucks for a Solo cup at the kegger. But that was during the last millennium and I wasn't technically old enough to drink back then.
Not selling cups at your party used to be a sign you had finally become a grown up.
While Thomas might have more wealth than his clerks, remember that former clerks make much more than a Justice.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/us/politics/supreme-court-clerk-bonuses.html
You know,
Eyes Wide Shut is a Christmas movie.
Also the Supreme Court’s stand on racism.
Haven’t y’all heard of a rent (seeking) party?