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Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, is back in the news. This time, the good folks at ProPublica discovered she’s for working her contacts to support those who oppose Court reform.
Now, Ginni has been called out — repeatedly — for her involvement in matters that come before her husband on the High Court. She’s a political consultant — who Leonard Leo tried to pay (totally non-suspiciously) without leaving a paper trail — and that work has butted up against the work of the Court. Her post-election advocacy made Clarence’s votes on matters related to the January 6th committee super suspect. She led a grassroots movement in support of Trump’s travel ban, worked for right-wing think tanks, and led efforts to defeat the Affordable Care Act. (And if the Thomas household just happens to make ~$700,000 in income for Ginni’s advocacy work that — oopsie! — Clarence forgets to report on disclosure documents, well, what can be done?) Ginni continues to deny she discusses her work with her husband, even though Clarence is her “best friend.”
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But that negative publicity apparently isn’t stopping her from getting all up in the Court’s ethics business. Kelly Shackelford, of the First Liberty Institute, reportedly told investors that Ginni is supportive of the group’s opposition to SCOTUS ethics reform. ProPublica reports on the caps-lock missive:
Thomas wrote that First Liberty’s opposition to court-reform proposals gave a boost to certain judges. According to Shackelford, Thomas wrote in all caps: “YOU GUYS HAVE FILLED THE SAILS OF MANY JUDGES. CAN I JUST TELL YOU, THANK YOU SO, SO, SO MUCH.”
Shackelford said he saw Thomas’ support as evidence that judges, who “can’t go out into the political sphere and fight,” were thankful for First Liberty’s work to block Supreme Court reform. “It’s neat that, you know, those of you on the call are a part of protecting the future of our court, and they really appreciate it,” he said.
The last year+ in legal news has been dominated by the ethics quandary that is the Supreme Court. And the issues have largely been Ginni’s husband’s. Including evidence that Clarence Thomas took hundreds of thousands of dollars in undisclosed gifts. Thomas had wealthy buddies cover private school tuition for his family on his behalf, provide his mother rent-free housing, and buy him an RV. And part of the reason the gifts started pouring in to the justice was because he made conservatives nervous he was going to retire if he *didn’t* start living the high life.
So perhaps it’s unsurprising Ginni has taken this position, as she’s directly benefitted from the lax ethics standards on the Court. But it still feels icky.
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Especially when Shackelford went on during that same investor call to criticize Justice Elena Kagan. Kagan has supported an enforceable Supreme Court ethics code which Shackelford called “treasonous” and “disloyal.”
Shackelford also took a swipe at other Supreme Court reform efforts (besides an enforceable ethics code), calling them “a dangerous attempt to really destroy the court, the Supreme Court.” This is your reminder, Court reform is supported by the majority of Americans and all this is just part of the far-right’s ploy to delegitimize the effort to rein in the wild power trip the Supreme Court is currently on.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, host of The Jabot podcast, and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter @Kathryn1 or Mastodon @[email protected].