The New York Times tells us today about yet more billionaire assistance propping up the not-so-down-to-earth lifestyle of Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas. In 1999 he bought a used RV that he uses to travel around the country:
His Prevost Marathon cost $267,230, according to title history records obtained by The New York Times. And Justice Thomas, who in the ensuing years would tell friends how he had scrimped and saved to afford the motor coach, did not buy it on his own. In fact, the purchase was underwritten, at least in part, by Anthony Welters, a close friend who made his fortune in the health care industry.
Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas showing off his $267,000 RV.
....Roughly nine years later, “the loan was satisfied,” Mr. Welters added....He would not say how much he had lent Justice Thomas, how much the justice had repaid and whether any of the debt had been forgiven or otherwise discharged. He declined to provide The Times with a copy of a loan agreement — or even say if one existed. Nor would he share the basic terms of the loan, such as what, if any, interest rate had been charged or whether Justice Thomas had adhered to an agreed-upon repayment schedule.
It's almost pointless to say this, but apparently Supreme Court justices don't have to disclose vehicle loans, so there's nothing technically illegal about this. Assuming, of course, that the loan was made at market rates and was fully paid back, which neither Welters nor Thomas is willing to prove.
I wish I were a Supreme Court justice. Sounds like a nice gig.
10 thoughts on “Today brings word of yet more borrowed money for Clarence Thomas”
Heysus
I would say that Thomas is making the supremes the laughing stock of the justice system.
He may not be alone…..
Five Parrots in a Shoe
At this point we should just assume that all of the Republican justices on the Court are utterly compromised.
iamr4man
With great power comes great opportunity.
(Apologies to Stan Lee)
DarkBrandon
Surprised NYT mentioned this, seeing as it's of no relevance to email security and server provisioning protocols.
different_name
I think I smell a WSJ editorial coming on.
DFPaul
A loan "forgiven" in fall 2008 is super suspicious. Almost certainly what happened is CT wrote an email saying "my 401K has been devastated!" and as a result the Welters guy said "no need to pay me back". CT. probably drove to the nearest Wal Mart to celebrate.
painedumonde
As payment for services to be and rendered?
ScentOfViolets
Don't think for a second that this is a case of yet another Republican SCOTUS pick that just happens to be contemptibly corruptable (and whodda thunk?) Since the time of Reagan at the very latest, Republican nominations to the highest court of the land have been selected precisely for baseness and corruptability.
golack
Sandra Day O'Connor was pretty decent. That said, she went along with stopping the FL recount because Jeb said he wouldn't recognize the results if his brother lost.
I would say that Thomas is making the supremes the laughing stock of the justice system.
He may not be alone…..
At this point we should just assume that all of the Republican justices on the Court are utterly compromised.
With great power comes great opportunity.
(Apologies to Stan Lee)
Surprised NYT mentioned this, seeing as it's of no relevance to email security and server provisioning protocols.
I think I smell a WSJ editorial coming on.
A loan "forgiven" in fall 2008 is super suspicious. Almost certainly what happened is CT wrote an email saying "my 401K has been devastated!" and as a result the Welters guy said "no need to pay me back". CT. probably drove to the nearest Wal Mart to celebrate.
As payment for services to be and rendered?
Don't think for a second that this is a case of yet another Republican SCOTUS pick that just happens to be contemptibly corruptable (and whodda thunk?) Since the time of Reagan at the very latest, Republican nominations to the highest court of the land have been selected precisely for baseness and corruptability.
Sandra Day O'Connor was pretty decent. That said, she went along with stopping the FL recount because Jeb said he wouldn't recognize the results if his brother lost.
I wish I had friends like CT's.