Clarence Thomas' Former Clerks Come to His Defense

United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' former clerks penned a letter defending his character as he faces several ethical scandals.

The Supreme Court has faced increasing scrutiny in recent months amid record-low approval ratings, controversial rulings on topics like affirmative action and religious freedom, and several ethics scandals that have plagued several Supreme Court justices.

Thomas, a conservative appointed by former President George H. W. Bush, found himself at the center of several ethics scandals over his ties to Republican megadonors. ProPublica has released several reports alleging that Thomas has accepted luxury vacations, including from GOP donor Harlan Crow.

Most recently, the investigative news organization reported that Thomas received a previously unreported trip on a yacht around the Bahamas, 26 private jet flights and eight helicopter flights, among other gifts from other billionaires, sparking calls for his resignation and for a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation.

Crow also paid private school tuition for a child raised by Thomas and his wife, according to the investigation. Thomas responded to the ProPublica report by saying he has "always sought to comply with the disclosure guidelines" and that it is his "intent to follow this guidance in the future."

As Thomas' ethics concerns remain a concern for the Court, 112 of his former clerks defended his character in a letter first reported by Fox News.

The letter was notably signed by John Eastman, who served as an attorney to former President Donald Trump and has been charged in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' probe into alleged election interference attempts surrounding the 2020 presidential election, as well as January 6 investigator John Wood.

The letter was signed by thee U.S. circuit court judges, David Stras, Jim Ho and Allison Rushing.

"As his law clerks, we offer this response. Different paths led us to our year with Justice Thomas, and we have followed different paths since. But along the way, we all saw with our own eyes the same thing: His integrity is unimpeachable.

"And his independence is unshakable, deeply rooted seven decades ago as that young child who walked through the door of his grandparents' house for a life forever changed," the letter reads.

His former clerks praised him as a man of the "greatest intellect, of greatest faith, and of greatest patriotism." They described the concerns about his ethics as "a larger attack on the Court and its legitimacy as an institution."

"The picture they paint of the Court and the man for whom we worked bears no resemblance to reality," the letter reads.

Newsweek reached out to the Supreme Court's public information office for comment via email.

While Thomas' justices wrote that they "reject attacks on his integrity, his character, or his ethics," others have maintained that these concerns are valid.

Historian Jeff Shesol wrote in a July New York Times opinion piece that he is concerned the most recent Supreme Court term was defined by its "ethical rot."

"The larger story of this term has been one of ethical rot and official indifference," he wrote. "Justices Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Clarence Thomas drew attention—not for the first time—for their close ties to wealthy benefactors who have business before the court."

ProPublica has also reported Alito joined a luxury fishing vacation with Republican donor Paul Singer. Meanwhile, Gorsuch has faced questions about the sale of a property he co-owned to the chief executive of Greenberg Tauri, a law firm that frequently has cases before the Supreme Court.

Alito has defended himself, saying that the flight to Alaska was the "only occasion" where he accepted transportation to a social event.

Correction, 9/7/23, 10 a.m. ET: This article was updated to clarify that ProPublica did not report Alito "accepted" a luxury fishing vacation from Singer.