In a new letter that directly addresses U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, a group of House Democrats including members of the chamber’s Judiciary Committee expose evident possibilities of a financial boost for the judge and his wife, Ginni Thomas, should Donald Trump win another term in the White House.
The Democrats raised this argument in the context of a letter pushing for the judge to recuse himself — meaning exit — the court’s decision-making in a dispute over whether Trump can Constitutionally appear on the ballot for the unfolding presidential race. That case originates in Colorado and challenges Trump on the basis of his argued incitement of the violent attack on the Capitol in early 2021, which has been connected to a series of deaths and threatened many lives at the time.
The opening for financial boosts for Clarence and Ginni Thomas that Democrats say is looming is a consulting firm the judge’s wife leads. Past financial disclosures show a significant boost in the business’s claimed value while Trump was in office. The claimed value reached between $100,001 and $250,000 in 2019 after growth in previous periods. (Financial disclosures sometimes require only ranges to be reported for some financial data.) Information on the Ginni-led firm was public previously but has received less attention than some other dubious details. Even these Democrats themselves didn’t mention it in an earlier letter that covered similar concerns.
“Finally, it is foreseeable that your wife’s earning capacity will be positively impacted should the Court grant the relief sought by the former president. From the little that is public about Ms. Thomas’s for-profit firm, Liberty Consulting, it is clearly aligned with Mr. Trump’s interests,” they said, adding: “The value of Ms. Thomas’s consulting firm skyrocketed from only “up to $15,000” before Mr. Trump was elected to “between $100,0001 and $250,000” during his presidency, and then fell again to “between $15,001 and $50,000” the year Mr. Trump lost the White House.” (They’re citing a past CNBC report.) Ethics requirements covering Thomas’ court could be argued to demand his exit from these proceedings, but possibilities for enforcement are unclear. Read the letter here.
Image: Gage Skidmore/ Creative Commons
