A recent report by The Washington Post reveals that Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, was paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work in 2012. However, conservative activist Leonard Leo instructed that her name be left off the billing paperwork. Leo, who was then the vice president of the Federalist Society, asked pollster Kellyanne Conway to bill a conservative nonprofit group, the Judicial Education Project, $25,000 and “give” the money to Ginni Thomas.
Conway’s firm, The Polling Company, ultimately paid Thomas’ own firm $80,000 from June 2011 to June 2012, with additional payments to follow. Conway later became Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign manager and White House counselor.
Leo defended the payments, stating that it was well-known that Ginni Thomas had a history of working within the conservative movement. However, he admitted to keeping her name off the billing paperwork to protect the privacy of the Thomases from “disrespectful, malicious, and gossipy” people.
This revelation adds fuel to the ongoing controversy surrounding Justice Thomas. ProPublica has reported on lavish trips the Thomases received from billionaire GOP mega-donor Harlan Crow, as well as real estate transactions involving Crow and Clarence Thomas’ family members. Furthermore, ProPublica exposed that Crow paid for two years of private school tuition for Thomas’ grandnephew.
Despite these financial dealings, Clarence Thomas did not report them on his federal disclosure forms, claiming he did not believe he needed to disclose “personal hospitality” from a friend. For the left-leaning readers of The Young Turks, these hidden payments and undisclosed dealings raise concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest involving a Supreme Court Justice and his spouse.
