The Goat Pen

Oh, it was.

Nothing to see here, move along...

https://www.propublica.org/article/clar ... gifts-crow

“IN LATE JUNE 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef.

If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000.

Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.

… For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.“

“… His failure to report the flights appears to violate a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts, two ethics law experts said. He also should have disclosed his trips on the yacht, these experts said.

… In 2011, The New York Times reported on Crow’s generosity toward the justice. That same year, Politico revealed that Crow had given half a million dollars to a Tea Party group founded by Ginni Thomas, which also paid her a $120,000 salary. But the full scale of Crow’s benefactions has never been revealed.“

Also, a lying hypocrite:

“In Thomas’ public appearances over the years, he has presented himself as an everyman with modest tastes.

“I don’t have any problem with going to Europe, but I prefer the United States, and I prefer seeing the regular parts of the United States,” Thomas said in a recent interview for a documentary about his life, which Crow helped finance.

“I prefer the RV parks. I prefer the Walmart parking lots to the beaches and things like that. There’s something normal to me about it,” Thomas said. “I come from regular stock, and I prefer that — I prefer being around that.”“

Trump Administration officials involved (of course):

“… Touring the Lesser Sunda Islands, the group made stops at Komodo National Park, home of the eponymous reptiles; at the volcanic lakes of Mount Kelimutu; and at Pantai Meko, a spit of pristine beach accessible only by boat. Another guest was Mark Paoletta, a friend of the Thomases then serving as the general counsel of the Office of Management and Budget in the administration of President Donald Trump.

Paoletta was bound by executive branch ethics rules at the time and told ProPublica that he discussed the trip with an ethics lawyer at his agency before accepting the Crows’ invitation. “Based on that counsel’s advice, I reimbursed Harlan for the costs,” Paoletta said in an email. He did not respond to a question about how much he paid Crow.

(Paoletta has long been a pugnacious defender of Thomas and recently testified before Congress against strengthening judicial ethics rules. “There is nothing wrong with ethics or recusals at the Supreme Court,” he said, adding, “To support any reform legislation right now would be to validate these vicious political attacks on the Supreme Court,” referring to criticism of Thomas and his wife.)“

Imagine if it was Kentanji Brown Jackson and George Soros instead of Clarence Thomas and Harlan Crow...

Fuck Lonnie

On the Clarence Thomas thing, is there a dollar value that you have to report? Their "could have exceeded $500,000" line is obvious horseshit. Whatever "gift" made to him this represents, it obviously wouldnt be the 100% cost of one person to charter a jet and a yacht all by himself. It sounds like this guy is his friend if he's traveling with him all the time. If Kavanaugh spends the night at someone's mansion after a DC rager, does he have to report the cost that he would have had to pay to Airbnb/VRBO the whole mansion for a night? If he fucks somebody who’s ever made a political contribution, should he calculate what an equivalent escort would have cost?

Republicans. Heh.

" It sounds like this guy is his friend if he's traveling with him all the time."

Of all the words and phrases you chose to put in quotation marks, "friend" should've been included...

Funny, not a peep out of the "weaponization of government" crowd over this fascist bullshit in Tennessee. Although in fairness Fox News probably hasn't "reported" on it at all, so they haven't heard anything about it...

A good life hack for the political class is to accept secret vacations to outright illegal destinations like pedophile islands and ranches in New Mexico owned by spooks and then everybody just keeps it secret and you dont have to declare any gifts!

"Well it seemed to indicate they vacation with each other “every year”. I guess maybe this guy needs a big supreme court decision every year though, or maybe Clarence Thomas would join the left wing if not for these critical bribes."

I appreciate your general skepticism about the political process in most cases. Not sure why it's failing you in this case...

Of course the white woman stays.

hedge wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 8:13 pm " It sounds like this guy is his friend if he's traveling with him all the time."

Of all the words and phrases you chose to put in quotation marks, "friend" should've been included...

hedge, I had a kick-ass two-bedroom time share. 3rd week of March, right in Daytona Beach. My "friends" came with me down to my condo for years. Not every year I owned it, but most years. It became our routine. They never paid me anything for it. I was happy to take them because that is what "friends" are supposed to do for each other.

You might be making a bigger deal out of this than it really is.

aTm wrote: ↑Thu Apr 06, 2023 8:17 pm A good life hack for the political class is to accept secret vacations to outright illegal destinations like pedophile islands and ranches in New Mexico owned by spooks and then everybody just keeps it secret and you dont have to declare any gifts!

To think Leslie Wexner is not only still alive aTm, but also a free man.