ProPublica is back with more
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The deck on ProPublica’s latest expose on Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas:
Thomas has attended at least two Koch donor summits, putting him in the extraordinary position of having helped a political network that has brought multiple cases before the Supreme Court.
Thomas flew into the weekend 2018 Koch summit in Palm Springs aboard a Gulfstream G200 jet. “A Koch network spokesperson said the network did not pay for the private jet.” Since Thomas never disclosed the trip, ProPublica cannot say who did.
Pay. To. Play. https://t.co/6n9z1AHsHM
— Dahlia Lithwick (@Dahlialithwick) September 22, 2023
“I can’t imagine — it takes my breath away, frankly — that he would go to a Koch network event for donors,” said John E. Jones III, a retired federal judge appointed by President George W. Bush. Jones said that if he had gone to a Koch summit as a district court judge, “I’d have gotten a letter that would’ve commenced a disciplinary proceeding.”
“What you’re seeing is a slow creep toward unethical behavior. Do it if you can get away with it,” Jones said.
It’s not clear how to read that last sentence, but U.S. Supreme Court Justices police their own behavior and do not have to abide by the code of conduct others in the federal judiciary must.
And, yes, the libertarian Koch has a case working its way to Thomas:
The Koch network is among the largest and most influential political organizations of the last half century, and it’s underwritten a far-reaching campaign to influence the course of American law. In a case the Supreme Court will hear this coming term, the justices could give the network a historic victory: limiting federal agencies’ power to issue regulations in areas ranging from the environment to labor rights to consumer protection. After shepherding the case to the court, Koch network staff attorneys are now asking the justices to overturn a decades-old precedent. (Thomas used to support the precedent but flipped his position in recent years.)
Two years ago, one of the network’s groups was the plaintiff in another Supreme Court case, which was about nonprofits’ ability to keep their donors secret. In that case, Thomas sided with the 6-3 conservative majority in the Koch group’s favor.
Charles Koch did not respond to detailed questions for this story. David Koch died in 2019.
Thomas has appeared at at least one dinner for top-tier donors, those who donate “in the millions” each year to the Koch network.
“These donors found it fascinating,” said another former senior employee, recounting a Thomas appearance at one summit where the justice discussed his judicial philosophy. “Donors want to feel special. They want to feel on the inside.”
It’s hard to be more inside than First of Nine. Unless it’s elite members of the Bohemian Grove, “an all-male retreat that attracts some of the nation’s most influential corporate and political figures. Thomas has been a regular at the Grove for 25 years as Harlan Crow’s guest, according to internal documents and interviews with dozens of members, other guests and workers at the retreat.”
Here’s another by-now familiar name associated with the Koch summits:
Thomas’ appearances were arranged with the help of Leonard Leo, the Federalist Society leader, according to the former senior network employee. “Leonard was the conduit who would get him,” the former employee said. During one summit, Thomas gave a talk with Leo in an interview format, the donor recalled.
“Justice Thomas attends events all over the country, as do all the Justices, and I was privileged to join him,” Leo said in a statement in response to questions about the Koch donor events. “All the necessary due diligence was performed to ensure the Justice’s attendance at the events was compliant with all ethics requirements.”
The network’s plans in 2018 were to “buy advertisements to push senators to vote for President Donald Trump’s judicial nominees.”
Thomas will just keep his head down and try to weather yet another round of unwanted scrutiny.