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It’s probably fair to say Democratic members of Congress were already skeptical of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It’s also fair to say those concerns reached a new level last week, after they saw ProPublica’s report on the far-right jurist spending the last couple of decades accepting gifts and luxury trips from a Republican megadonor, which Thomas failed to disclose.
Some Democrats called for the justice’s resignation, while a few raised the specter of impeachment. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, added in a written statement, “The Pro Publica report is a call to action, and the Senate Judiciary Committee will act.”
As for Republicans, who’ve long pointed to Thomas as a judicial hero, the justice’s latest ethics scandal hasn’t generated much in the way of discussion. GOP officials have largely overlooked Thomas’ other controversies, and it’s likely the party is content to wait for this story to fade from the headlines.
On Saturday, however, Sen. John Cornyn published a message to Twitter that caught my attention. The Texas Republican, paraphrasing a piece from The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, wrote:
The left is furious it lost control of the Supreme Court, and it wants it back by whatever means possible. The latest effort is a smear on Justice Thomas.
At this point, we could spend some time challenging the idea that the left “lost control of the Supreme Court,” which is dubious in part because it’s been more than a half-century since a majority of the justices were appointed by Democratic presidents, and in part because of the unprecedented abuses Cornyn and his GOP colleagues have engaged in.
We could also spend some time marveling at the idea that “the left” wants to seize control of the high court “by whatever means possible.” In this context, even if Thomas’ scandal were to force him from the bench — a fanciful notion, to be sure — and even if the Democratic White House and Democratic-led Senate were to confirm a successor, the right’s majority on the high court would remain secure.
But what stood out as especially notable was the use of the word “smear.”
As a rule, when those in the political or legal arena are being smeared, it means they’re facing false and ugly allegations that tarnish their reputations. This certainly happens, and it can be awful for the targets.
But in this instance, ProPublica appears to have published an accurate report on Thomas’ dubious behavior. The justice released a 146-word written statement in response to the controversy, but at no point did Thomas challenge or contest a single detail of the revelations.
In other words, the story appears to be true. Thomas, several years after joining the Supreme Court, forged close ties with real estate magnate Harlan Crow, who’s repeatedly been excessively generous toward the conservative jurist. Thomas, in turn, spent years failing to disclose the benefits of his friendship with the Republican megadonor.
If stating these uncontested facts constitutes a “smear,” that says more about Thomas than those concerned about his conduct.