US supreme court: Clarence Thomas reportedly accepted more undisclosed gifts as calls for reform grow – live
"Media reports say justice has benefited from being part of elite, wealthy circle; campaigners to call on Congress calling for corruption investigation
An exclusive circle of “extraordinarily wealthy, largely conservative” Americans is in the spotlight after a New York Times investigation revealed how the supreme court justice, Clarence Thomas, has benefited from being a member.
The Times reported on Sunday that just months after Thomas joined the bench in 1991, he was welcomed into the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, where he forced relationships with an exclusive circle of wealthy and powerful members “who lionized him” and gave him proximity to “a lifestyle of unimaginable material privilege.”
The paper writes:
While he has never held an official leadership position, in some ways he has become the association’s leading light. He has granted it unusual access to the Supreme Court, where every year he presides over the group’s signature event: a ceremony in the courtroom at which he places Horatio Alger medals around the necks of new lifetime members. One entrepreneur called it ‘the closest thing to being knighted in the United States.’
This organization granted him access to wealthy friends who gifted Thomas with luxurious vacation retreats and VIP tickets to sporting events, as well as invited him to parties, according to the paper. Thomas did not disclose many of the gifts and trips over the last two decades reported by the Times.
The latest revelation comes amid scrutiny over Thomas prompted by a ProPublica report revealing that he had received gifts from the Republican mega-donor, Harlan Crow. ProPublica has reported that gifts from Crow to Thomas included luxury travel and resort stays, purchase of a property in which the justice’s mother lives rent-free, and schooling for Thomas’s great-nephew.
Former vice president Mike Pence criticized his former boss, Donald Trump, after the former president claimed he could end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours.
Pence, who is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, was asked on Fox News how he believes the war in Ukraine will end. Pence said:
There’s some talk, my former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you’d solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted.
2024 GOP pres. candidate Mike Pence goes after Trump for claiming he would end Russia’s war against Ukraine in 24 hours:
— The Recount (@therecount) July 10, 2023
“My former running mate likes to talk about solving it in a day. The only way you’d solve this war in a day is if you gave Vladimir Putin what he wanted.” pic.twitter.com/AqPkXE4H73
Pence also said he supported Joe Biden’s decision to send cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying that it was in the US interest “to give the Ukrainians what they need to stop [Russians] there.”
No comments:
Post a Comment