Clarence Thomas demands higher payment before receiving gifts from ultra-rich supporters

Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas threatened to quit before receiving cash and favors from ultra-rich supporters, according to a new report.

In 2000, Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas demanded a salary increase and threatened to quit the high court. This was just before ultra-rich supporters stepped in and gifted him with cash and other favors, according to a new report published by ProPublica on Monday.

Thomas, who was among the least wealthy members of the court, was frustrated with his financial situation. His salary was $173,600, which would be equivalent to over $300,000 today. On multiple occasions, he pushed for ways to make more money.

He attended an "off-the-record conservative conference" in early January 2000 at a five-star beach resort in Sea Island, Georgia, at which he gave a speech. On the flight back, Thomas complained to Florida Republican Representative Cliff Stearns about his compensation.

Thomas said that if lawmakers did not act, "one or more justices will leave soon," possibly within the next year. Stearns, who served in the House of Representatives for 24 years, became concerned that Thomas might resign from the Supreme Court.

ProPublica reviewed details of Thomas' personal finances, including the fact that he "had borrowed $267,000 from a friend to buy a high-end RV," that he and his wife, Ginni, bought a house on five acres of land in Virginia for $522,000 and that "the couple regularly borrowed more money, including a $100,000 credit line on their house and a consumer loan of up to $50,000."

A confidential memo from 2000 written to then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist by a top administrative official of the judiciary, L. Ralph Mecham, revealed that Thomas had clearly told Stearns that departures would occur within the next year or so.

Concerns were also raised about Antonin Scalia, who was not as wealthy as the other judges on the court. Mecham wrote to Rehnquist that "from a tactical point of view" Democrats in Congress might oppose a raise if they believed "the apparent purpose is to keep Justices [Antonin] Scalia and Thomas on the Court."

Although Congress never lifted the ban on speaking fees or gave the justices a major raise, Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court.

In other words, to get around the problem of a politically motivated salary increase, other means were found to pay off the corrupt Clarence Thomas in exchange for his ongoing support for right-wing opinions on the court. The report continues, "Some defrayed living expenses large and small -- private school tuition, vehicle batteries, tires. Other gifts from a coterie of ultrarich men supplemented his lifestyle, such as free international vacations on the private jet and superyacht of Dallas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow."

Within several years, Clarence Thomas' and his wife's fortunes changed dramatically. In 2003, he received a $1.5 million advance for his memoir and Ginni Thomas, who had been a congressional staffer, was hired by the Heritage Foundation and "paid a salary in the low six figures."

The new report summarizes the gifts showered on Thomas by his benefactors, "In 2008, another wealthy friend forgave 'a substantial amount, or even all' of the principal on the loan Thomas had used to buy the quarter-million dollar RV, according to a recent Senate inquiry prompted by The New York Times' reporting. Much of the Thomas' leisure time was also paid for by a small set of billionaire businessmen, who brought the justice and his family on free vacations around the world. (Thomas has said he did not need to disclose the gifts of travel and his lawyer has disputed the Senate findings about the RV.)"

Clarence Thomas' continued presence on the Supreme Court is an expression of the deep-going rot that pervades both big business parties and all three branches of the American government.

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