Dozens of ex-Clarence Thomas clerks defend SCOTUS justice

More than 100 of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas‘ former clerks have vouched for his character and integrity following an onslaught of ethics attacks against him.

“The Justice is ever the subject of political headlines taking aim at his character, his judicial philosophy, his marriage, even his race,” the 112 signatories wrote in an open letter obtained by Fox News Tuesday.

“Lately, the stories have questioned his integrity and his ethics for the friends he keeps. They bury the lede. These friends are not parties before him as a Justice of the Court,” the former clerks continued. “We all saw with our own eyes the same thing: His integrity is unimpeachable. And his independence is unshakable.”

The letter hearkened back to Thomas’ humble beginnings in the segregated Georgia in the 1950s and his lineage as a descendent of West African slaves. They argued that the story of the justice’s rise “should be told in every American classroom, at every American kitchen table, in every anthology of American dreams realized.”

The signatories include Fox News host Laura Ingraham, former Justice Department official John Yoo and three current federal judges: Allison Rushing of the 4th Circuit, James Ho of the 5th Circuit, and David Stras of the 8th Circuit.

Two other notable signatories are John Eastman, the chief legal architect of Donald Trump’s plans to overturn the 2020 election result; and John Wood, a former senior investigator on the House select committee that investigated Eastman as part of its probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

Thomas, 75, is the oldest current justice on the high court and one of its most conservative members. He has come under fire in recent months after a series of reports showed he accepted luxury trips and other benefits from wealthy friends and declined to disclose it.

Back in April, ProPublica revealed that Thomas “accepted luxury trips virtually every year” from Dallas-based real estate guru and GOP donor Harlan Crow.

The following week, ProPublica reported that one of Crow’s companies purchased a house in Georgia that was owned by Thomas and several family members, but the justice again did not disclose it.

Crow also help foot the private school tuition bill for one of Thomas’ grandnephews that the justice had legal custody over — something that the justice also declined to disclose, the same outlet revealed in May.

Earlier this month, ProPublica reported that Thomas accepted at least 26 international private jet flights, eight helicopter flights, 38 vacations, 12 VIP passes to sporting events, and two resort stays throughout his time on the high court.

Thomas’ defenders have pointed out that he was not required to disclose these perks under the Supreme Court’s ethics rules and that he has resolved to do so in the future. They also note that none of the friends who offered Thomas such gifts had business before the court and claim the reporting by ProPublica amounts to a series of hit pieces from an outlet backed by shadowy progressive bundlers.

Some Democrats, including far-left Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have called for a Justice Department probe of Thomas, while others have urged Congress to impeach him.

Thomas is far from the only justice to face ethics scrutiny in recent months.

Back in April, Politico reported that Justice Neil Gorsuch sold a Colorado property for around $1.825 million to the chief executive of a major law firm nine days before his 2017 confirmation to the high court.

Gorsuch did not initially divulge the identity of the purchaser, who Politico named as Brian Duffy — whose Greenberg Traurig firm has been involved in over a dozen cases before the Supreme Court since.

The newest justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson conceded last September that she “inadvertently omitted” key information from her disclosure forms about reimbursements for travel, board memberships, and consulting income that her doctor husband earned in medical malpractice cases, Bloomberg reported.

In light of those controversies, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Il.) has led a charge for tightening Supreme Court ethics requirements.

But there are constitutional questions about how much authority Congress has to regulate the high court.

Proponents of enhanced ethics requirements such as Durbin have urged Chief Justice John Roberts to enact those reforms himself, but so far, the high court has declined to do so.

Justice Samuel Alito has publicly argued Congress lacks the power to enact such reforms on the Supreme Court unilaterally.

Amid the uproar and sagging public approval of the Supreme Court, Justice Amy Coney Barrett recently said she’s been forced to develop “thick skin.”

“Public scrutiny is welcome,” Barrett said during a recent judicial conference in Wisconsin this week, adding that she wished she was not so recognizable.

“People just didn’t recognize who the justices were,” she added. “I think that’s better.”