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| Clarence Thomas and Wife, Virginia |
Just a few days after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas tried to explain why he and another justice, Antonin Scalia, attended a private meeting sponsored by Charles and David Koch (John Birch Society and Tea Party funders), we now learn that for six years Thomas has failed to disclose, as required by law, his wife's employment.
He said he misunderstood the directions, and thus did not disclose that she worked for conservative organisations with interests in the landmark Citizens United Case. This controversial 5-4 ruling allows corporations and unions to donate undisclosed amounts to political campaigns.
As it turns out, Mrs. Thomas worked for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy group from 2003 to 2007 and was paid $686,589. Although her salary is unknown, she was also employed by conservative Hillsdale College (Michigan). In 2009 she was involved in the founding of another conservative organization, Liberty Central, a group that opposes President Obama's policies. An "unknown" contributor donated $550,000.
In spite of this, Justice Thomas marked the box indicating "no spousal income."
Where did he think $686,589 come from? The tooth fairy? How can a Supreme Court Justice not understand "spousal income"? Can the rest of us break the law and claim "misunderstanding" as an excuse? Is this not an impeachable offense? Why are the law-and-order Republicans not calling for him to resign? Why are the major media not headlining this story? "SCOTUS Justice Breaks Disclosure Law" would be on the front pages in most democracies around the world, but not here.
One has to wonder what the reaction might be if Justice Sonia Sotomayor had filed false disclosure papers.
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