Calls for the implementation of a code of conduct for the justices have been revived in light of recent reporting on Supreme Court corruption.
The wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, Ginni, received tens of thousands of dollars, according to a Thursday night report in The Washington Post, but her name was omitted from the paperwork.
The payments were made by Leonard Leo, whose Federalist Society has been a major force in getting conservatives appointed to the judiciary. In January 2012, Leo gave Kellyanne Conway, the pollster who would later work closely with Donald Trump, the order to pay Ginni Thomas.
However, he also left a note asking that “No mention of Ginni, of course,” be made in the paperwork that accompanied the payments.
Earlier Thursday, ProPublica reported on further ties between Clarence Thomas and the billionaire Harlan Crow, whom he is reported to have met in the 1990s. ProPublica reported that Crow had paid roughly $100,000 in tuition for Thomas’s grandnephew, whom the justice was raising “like a son.” Thomas did not disclose the payments as a gift.
ProPublica also reported last month that Crow took Thomas on luxury vacations, then revealed that Crow had bought property from Thomas in deals the justice did not disclose. Days later, the Washington Post reported that Thomas had been claiming income from a real estate firm that has not existed since 2006.
