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Democrats Criticize Justice Thomas Over Ethics Allegations
Confirmed
In Short: Democrats are criticizing Justice Clarence Thomas over ethics allegations, but their plan to investigate remains unclear.
Democrats are criticizing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas over ethics allegations, with Senator Dick Durbin stating that no decision has been made on whether to issue subpoenas.
Thomas is facing scrutiny over financial disclosure forms, with Durbin saying the American people deserve all the facts surrounding Thomas's alleged violation of law.
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican, also criticized Thomas's lack of transparency, saying, 'If the reports are accurate, it stinks.'
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, however, defended the court and Justice Thomas, criticizing Democrats for their criticism of the court.
McConnell said he has confidence in Chief Justice John Roberts to handle internal court issues.
Thomas's financial disclosure forms are set to be amended to reflect a sale to a GOP megadonor.
The Supreme Court recently denied a request from the Trump administration to implement a new policy on healthcare for transgender inmates, with Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas dissenting.
Thomas ran the Boston Marathon in 1980, 11 years before joining the Supreme Court, with a time of 3:11:00.
Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, addressed reports that her father, Thomas Markle Sr., is under investigation in the Philippines for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse images.
Markle said she is 'deeply distressed' by the allegations and that she had been shown a letter in 2018 containing troubling allegations about her father.
Thomas Markle Jr. Reported the allegations to the police and the FBI, and Thomas Sr. Denied the accusations, telling The Daily Mail, 'I could never do what I’m being accused of.'
What this adds
Democrats have not yet outlined a specific plan for investigating the ethics allegations against Justice Thomas.
The financial disclosure forms amendment and the denial of the Trump administration's request are separate from the ethics allegations.
Background
Clarence Thomas is an American lawyer and jurist who has served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 1991. Nominated by President George H.
What's confirmed
- The Duchess of Sussex revealed on Friday she had been shown a letter in 2018 containing what she described as “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father and had been assured they were being investigated.
- Meghan Markle has said she is "deeply distressed" by reports that her father, Thomas Markle Sr., is being investigated over child sex abuse images and that prior allegations against him were the reason she kept him from having contact with her children.
- Thomas Markle Jr, 60, told the newspaper that he reported his father to police after discovering the images at his former home in Cebu.
- Meghan said on Friday that she was “deeply distressed” by accusations that her father Thomas Markle had possessed images of child abuse, adding she had blocked contact between him and her children over previous “troubling and disturbing” allegations.
- Thomas Markle, who is now reportedly in a rehab center in Florida, told the Daily Mail the allegations against him were “sick lies.” Authorities in the Philippines are investigating the allegations, according to UK media.
- “Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” she said.
- "I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him." Thomas Jr, who has helped care for his father since Thomas Sr suffered a serious stroke in 2022, said he was deeply disturbed by what he claimed to have found.
- Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has said she is “deeply distressed” by allegations that her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., possessed child sexual abuse images, revealing that she had been informed of “troubling and disturbing” allegations against him in 2018.
What's still developing
- Bush in 1991 – and said it wasn’t Congress’ place to push an ethics code on the high court.
- Her death allowed Trump and Senate Republicans led by Mitch McConnell to push through Barrett’s election year confirmation (after Republicans had refused to consider Obama nominee Merrick Garland for the late Justice Antonin Scalia’s seat in 2016 on the grounds that it was an election year).
- What may come as a surprise to even them, however, is that Clarence Thomas is among its “ famous finishers.” He ran the race in 1980 – 11 years before he joined the Supreme Court – and clocked an impressive time of 3:11:00, according to the event website.
- Fox News contributor and constitutional law attorney Jonathan Turley discusses a federal judge’s decision to halt President Donald Trump’s executive order limiting mail-in voting on ‘America Reports.’ Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas firmly dissented Monday as the Supreme Court denied a request by President Donald Trump's administration for relief from a universal injunction against its mail-in ballot rules.
- A source close to the Duchess of Sussex, who is reportedly “speaking with her blessing,” told the Sun Friday that she is “utterly devastated” by the allegations that her father possessed child sexual abuse material.
- Meghan's statement comes following reports her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr, 82 - who she has had no contact with since 2018, before her wedding to Prince Harry, 42 - is reportedly facing a police investigation in the Philippines after his son alleged he discovered child sexual abuse images among family possessions and computer files.
- The Duchess of Sussex’s friend told ‘The Sun’ she has struggled with “not being able to speak openly” about allegations brought to her attention in 2018 Meghan Markle feels a “real sense of relief” after a recent report of an investigation into child porn allegations against her estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., according to a close friend who spoke with The Sun.
- The friend’s comments follow Meghan’s statement after The Sun reported that her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., claimed to have discovered “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornographic images at their father’s home in Cebu, Philippines.
- Justice Kavanaugh agreed writing that “there is at least a fair prospect that the final rule falls within the Postal Service’s statutory authority” under 39 U.S.C. §401(2).