OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Democrats’ attempt to manufacture another scandal involving Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas just blew up in their faces as two appeals court judges are pouring cold water on it.
Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Thomas Hardiman brushed aside the word “scandal” and expressed that he did not believe there was anything Justice Thomas did incorrectly.
During an event at Princeton University, Judge Hardiman and Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge James Ho addressed questions about Justice Thomas.
“The thing that I thought was weird about the Justice Thomas thing is the ‘scandal,’ to use your word, there was no intimation at any time, ever, that his billionaire friend ever had any business before the Supreme Court. So, how’s he helping his friend? He’s not even in a position to help his friend because his friend had exactly zero cases in the Supreme Court,” Judge Hardiman said, responding to a student’s question.
“You know, I decide cases involving lawyers in Pittsburgh. And I know these lawyers, some of them are former law partners of mine. I belong to organizations with them, I go to lunch with them. Should I not hear their cases? If you have such suspicion about our integrity, you could really end up in a situation where judges can’t even do their jobs because at some point you’re attached to everybody,” he said.
The “billionaire friend” being referenced is Harlan Crow who, it was reported by left-leaning publication ProPublica, gave luxury gifts to Justice Thomas.
“I think that’s a great answer,” Judge Ho responded, who is a former clerk for Justice Thomas at the Supreme Court, said. He said there was a difference between “an actual instance of corruption” and “the mere perception” of it.
“I think the appearance issue is absolutely important” because “the judiciary basically rests on its credibility” and therefore “it is absolutely vital to what we do that people believe in what we do,” the judge said.
Additionally, a friend of Justice Thomas said there is plenty of documentation disproving allegations that he has routinely flouted ethics rules.
This comes as liberal Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is under fire after a new report reveals her net worth has increased significantly since joining the nation’s highest court.
Financial disclosure forms show that Sotomayor, who was nominated by then-President Barack Obama, has amassed a small fortune since joining the Supreme Court
Fox News reported:
In 2007, the sum of Sotomayor’s total investments was between $50,001 and $115,000, according to her financial disclosure form for that year. She reported only two assets: a checking account and a savings account, both at Citibank.
In 2008, Sotomayor’s financial disclosures show she had the same two assets, this time totaling $15,001 to $65,000. The following year, during which Sotomayor was both nominated and confirmed to the Supreme Court, she held the same investments for the same range of value.
Since then, Sotomayor’s net worth has skyrocketed, putting her among the ranks of the nation’s millionaires. In 2021, her investments totaled somewhere between $1.5 million and $6.4 million, according to financial disclosure forms. Last year, investments were roughly the same, in between $1.6 million and $6.6 million.
Sotomayor’s yearly salary was about $180,000 as a federal appeals court judge before Obama nominated her, supplemented by about $25,000 a year from teaching at New York-area law schools. That salary went up several thousands of dollars upon becoming a Supreme Court justice.
Currently, justices are paid $285,400 except for the chief justice, who earns just under $300,000.
She has generated money from authoring books, which is one factor in the huge rise in Sotomayor’s assets and overall fortune.
According to a report by the Associated Press on Tuesday, her staff frequently “prodded” public institutions that had the justice as a guest to purchase her memoir or children’s books. These publications have earned her at least $3.7 million since she joined the Supreme Court and continue to bring in six-figure royalty payments every year.
Sotomayor’s publisher, Penguin Random House, has played a sizable role in organizing her talks, even pressing public institutions to commit to buying a certain number of copies or requesting attendees purchase books before they can obtain tickets.
