Clarence Thomas says critics are pushing 'nastiness' and calls Washington a 'hideous place'

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75. The biggest flaw in Justice Clarence Thomas' newest complaints

Justice Clarence Thomas wants the public to believe the serious accusations he’s faced are “lies.” He’s going to have to be far more specific.

Link to tweet

https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/biggest-flaw-justice-clarence-thomas-newest-complaints-rcna151935

And yet, while Thomas is likely satisfied with the direction of the judiciary, he’s apparently far less happy about the ethics allegations he’s faced. The Associated Press reported:

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas told attendees at a judicial conference Friday that he and his wife have faced “nastiness” and “lies” over the last several years and decried Washington, D.C., as a “hideous place.” Thomas spoke at a conference attended by judges, attorneys and other court personnel in the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference, which hears federal cases from Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

When the far-right jurist was asked specifically about a world that seems meanspirited, Thomas replied, “I think there’s challenges to that. We’re in a world and we — certainly my wife and I the last two or three years it’s been — just the nastiness and the lies, it’s just incredible.”

A New York Times report on the justice’s remarks noted, “It amounted to some of the most extensive public remarks he has made since revelations that he failed to disclose years of lavish trips from wealthy conservatives, like the Texas real estate magnate Harlan Crow, including on private jets and a superyacht.”.....

In each instance, the far-right jurist’s luxurious benefits “have been underwritten by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence.” Though the precise value of the trips is difficult to measure, ProPublica described it as “likely in the millions” of dollars.

It’s an impossible dynamic to defend: Thomas has lived the life of a wealthy man, thanks to the generosity of his rich, likeminded friends.......

Because on the one hand we have a great many compelling, well-sourced, award-winning reports written and published by respected journalists. On the other hand, we have a controversial Supreme Court justice, burdened by decades of controversies, who apparently hopes the public takes his vague assertions at face value, despite his lack of credibility.

This doesn’t seem like an especially tough call.