so very important justin justice clarence thomas of big friends.d, played for souped up the, kids to asian. clarence thomas knows that's not normal because he never disclose these gifts. now a new report from propublica shows why these rich republicans may found a way to befriend clarence thomas. in early january 2000, supreme court justice clarence thomas was in a five star beach resort in sea island georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. after almost a decade on the court, thomas ing-wen frustrated with his financial situation. according to friends easterly reasoning is grandnephew in thomas's wife is soliciting advice on how to handle the new exhibits exes. at the resort, thomas give a speech in an author record conservative conference. he found himself sitting next to a republican member of congress in the flight home. the two men talked and the law makers left the conversation worried the thomas might resign. congress should get the justices a pay raise, thomas told him. if lawmakers didn't act, one or more justices may leave soon,

so very important justin justice clarence thomas of big friends.ealthy food, played for souped up the, kids to asian. clarence thomas knows that's not norm because he never discse these gifts. now a new report from propublicashs why these rich republicans may found a way to befriend clarence thomas. in early january 2000, supreme court justice clarence thomas was in a five star beach resort in sea island georgia, hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt. after almost a decade on the court, thomas ing-wen frustrated with his financial situation. according to friends easterly reasoning is grandnephew in thomas's wife is soliciting advice on how to handle the new exhibits exes. at the resort, thomas give a speech in an author record conservative conference. he found himself sitting next to a republican member of congress in the flight home. the two men talked and the law makers left the conversation worried the thomas might resign. congress should get the justices a pay raise, thomas told him. if lawmakers didn't act, one or more justices may leave so

also tonight, new revolutions on justice clarence thomas's financial scandals as he cozied up to sympathetic billionaires. we start with donald trump's alarming embrace of authoritarianism, fascism, and ci rhetoric, adopting toxics rhetoric to dehumanize and apoat immigrants in turns t experts say echoed the worst dictators of the 20th century. trp's newest comments sparking headlines and backlash, in raising new questions about market a or's in congress. after trump targeted immigrants in language historians say was identical to adolf hitler's language about jewish people. >> they are poisoning the blood of our country, that is what they have done. they've poisoned mental institutions and prisons all over the world. not just in south america, not just a three o four countries we think about, b all over the world ar coming into our country from africa, from asia, all over the world. >> experts pointing out, quote, the term blood poisoning was used by hitler in his manifesto mein kampf, in which she criticize immigration and the mixing of races. this is at least the second time trump has used

what will clarence thomas do? what could be the political fallout and the fallout among the maga faithful? much more when we come right back. >>> all right. for more on this breaking news colorado throwing donald trump off the ballot saying he's disqualified for having participated in insurrection, let's bring in former rnc chair, michael steele. democratic strategist and msnbc contributor fernand amandi. thank you for being here. i'm going to go to you first, michael steele, because we were talking about it in the break and bring our off of the break conversation online, the sixth court conservatives on the supreme court in many ways are republicans openly. they go for republican outcomes. how likely is it that they pull off the perfect crime? republicans in the house, republicans in the senate, republicans in the state are too afraid to rid themselves of donald trump. they couldn't do it on impeachment. they were too scared to impeach him. two shots, they couldn't do it. this would be the perfect crime for john

talk a little bit about clarence thomas' complaints. these date back to the year 2000 when he had only been on the court for eight years. >> that's right. yeah, so this was in 2000. justice thomas was on his way back from a conservative conference on the plane ride back, he was talking with cliff stearns, and he told him if there's not a pay raise for justices, multiple justices might soon return. this he took to mean as justice thomas might be one of the resignations. so when he got back to washington, he set off sort of a flurry of activity there, where he wanted to raise this. he wanted to raise it on the house floor, he wanted to introduce a bill. thomas had also at the same time been raising concerns about the lack of speaking fees that justices could take. he wanted that addressed as well. there was a bill introduced to that effect. so this period of time is very important because there was some financial strain in his life at the time, he had just taken on a nephew and he was sending him to private school. it was around the same

we are going to dig into some pretty wild new reporting about supreme court justice clarence thomas,oncerns that he would resign over his paycheck. >>> i do want to start tonight with what i hope will be a bit of a sober reminder of where the american electorate sits right now. it is important for everyone to hear. this weekend, trump, once again, echoed dictators, praised autocrats, repeated racist language, and was still cheered on by a arenas packed with people who will cast their ballots and just over one month. during that speech on saturday, in new hampshire, trump, once again, said immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood of our country. now, that is clearly inflammatory. it is dehumanizing. it is white supremacist rhetoric. as we've mentioned on the show, last time trump said this, it very clearly echoes the words of hitler. in the same speech, trump also called hungarian prime minister viktor orban highly respected. yes, that is the same viktor orban who dismantled democracy in hungary and said he opposes a mixed race society. trump also noted that north korean leader kim

we are going to dig into some pretty wild new reporting about supreme court justice clarence thomas, and concerns that he would resign over his paycheck. we >>> do want to start tonight with what i hope will be a bit of a sober reminder of where the american electorate sits right now. it is important for everyone to hear. this weekend, trump, once again, echoed dictators, praised autocrats, repeated racist language, and was still cheered on by a arenas packed with people who will cast their ballots and just over one month. during that speech on saturday, in new hampshire, trump, once again, said immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood of our country. now, that is clearly inflammatory. it is dehumanizing. it is white supremacist rhetoric. as we've mentioned on the show, last time trump said this, it very clearly echoes the words of hitler. in the same speech, trump also called hungarian prime minister viktor orban highly respected. yes, that is the same viktor orban who dismantled democracy in hungary and said he opposes a mixed race society. trump also noted that north korean lead

there is no person or a body that can require clarence thomas to recuse. the decision is still in his hands and even though under federal law he clearly should i really don't think that he will. >> harry, we will get your thoughts on something that my opinion colleague ruth markets wrote last week. i am quoting here. the best outcome for the court and the country would be for a unanimous court, preferably an 8 to 0 court with justice clarence thomas recusing himself, to clear the way for trump to run. >> three different things from ruth. first, unanimous. it is clear that it's true. the court knows that they are trying, and it might not be possible. i am with 0. 00, and third, would it be unanimous clearing the way to run? i understand that argument but on the other end, the constitutional, either way they will take a lot of heat. you can also argue it is a clear decision saying that he can't. but the clarity is what really matters, and they are going to, i think, with their natural divide, have trouble coming to a unanimous decision and, they will try, th

there is no person or a body that can require clarence thomas to recuse. the decision is still in his hands and even though under federal law he clearly should i really don't think that he will. >> harry, we will get your thoughts on something that my opinion colleague ruth markets wrote last week. i am quoting here. the best outcome for the court and the country would be for a unanimous court, preferably an 8 to 0 court with justice clarence thomas recusing himself, to clear the way for trump to run. >> three different things from ruth. first, unanimous. it is clear that it's true. the court knows that they are trying, and it might not be possible. i am with 0.00, and third, would it be unanimous clearing the way to run? i understand that argument but on the other end, the constitutional, either way they will take a lot of heat. you can also argue it is a clear decision saying that he can't. but the clarity is what really matters, and they are going to, i think, with their natural divide, have trouble coming to a unanimous decision and, they will try, tha

really, i should say that it is actually decades-long because ethics issues have plagued clarence thomasd the national spotlight. let's go down memory lane and review some of them. to be clear, this is what we know and this time. you never know what else has yet to be uncovered in the weeks and months ahead. 1991 thomas's conform to the supreme court after senate hearings featuring graphic allegations of sexual harassment from anita hill. 1996, harlan crow meets thomas for the first time in washington and invites him to fly on a private jet to dallas. thomas fails to disclose after harlan crow reportedly bonded. 2008, thomas began sending his grand nephew to a private boarding school in georgia. records show that he paid his $6,200 a month tuition and he paid the tuition for the grandnephews entire year long stay at that school. thomas never reports this. 2009, harlan crow reportedly gives $500,000 to a political nonprofit started by ginni thomas. the money is initially given anonymously by a political links up to crow in 2011. 2012, conservative activists, leonard leo and kylian conaway

and the problem here isn't whether clarence thomas wanted to make more money. quit.ther job and you can. it's that he wasn't making what he wanted to and then he was taking money and then knowingly not disclosing it, repeatedly. repeatedly, while he's sitting with people with an ideological agenda. that's a problem. >> jesse, maya brought up an interesting point here. and this is something propublica's been on since these stories first came out. and that is that the idea that most people have, maybe people don't care or care about what clarence thomas took, but the idea is that they are neutral arbiters of matters that are of great import. and some of the people who have been involved in giving some of these justices gifts or benefits of some sort do have either an ideological or a highly specific reason to have business before the supreme court. they've got -- it cannot be disentangled from the fact that some people have agendas and currying favor with a supreme court justice if you have an agenda is bad for democracy. >> yeah. now, let's just be clear. we've never

really, i should say that it is actually decades-long because ethics issues have plagued clarence thomasthe national spotlight. let's go down memory lane and review some of them. to be clear, this is what we know and this time. you never know what else has yet to be uncovered in the weeks and months ahead. 1991 thomas's conform to the supreme court after senate hearings featuring graphic allegations of sexual harassment from anita hill. 1996, harlan crow meets thomas for the first time in washington and invites him to fly on a private jet to dallas. thomas fails to disclose after harlan crow reportedly bonded. 2008, thomas began sending his grand nephew to a private boarding school in georgia. records show that he paid his $6, 200 a month tuition and he paid the tuition for the grandnephews entire year long stay at that school. thomas never reports this. 2009, harlan crow reportedly gives $500, 000 to a political nonprofit started by ginni thomas. the money is initially given anonymously by a political links up to crow in 2011. 2012, conservative activists, leonard leo and kylian conaway

. >> senate democrats have called for justice clarence thomas to recuse himself if the trump immunity wife, ginni thomas, helped push the big lie. what are your thoughts on that? helped pus>> in an ideal world,k that would be the appropriate thing to do. just to avoid the appearance of impropriety. sometimes that's what people need to understand. regardless of whether clarence thomas could or would but -- issue an impartial decision it is the appearance of impropriety based off the cloud of wrongdoing that has been hanging over him from an ethical standpoint for a while now. and then you add, and as you just mentioned, the ties between his wife and spreading the big lie, all those things do not bode well for what would be a situation where clarence thomas would be able to come in and basically, like any other justice, render an opinion and be impartial. because of these things, even if he could, is the appearance of wrongdoing and impropriety that he would seem to avoid. given there are no hard and fast rules ethically on the supreme court, i fully expect clarence thomas's going, just

i say that because clarence thomas has no business hearing this case. why?ecause his wife was a major player in the whole insurrection. and he should, if he had principles, recuse himself. but i will guarantee you this, clarence thomas will recuse himself when johnny flies. >> i think you're right. i was wondering, could ginni thomas hold office under section 14 of the third 14th amendment? the other thing, with the good till january 4th, and i think we will see movement from them in some way. they're gonna say we want this briefed and we're going to take in some way. so they're either going to refused to take it up, or there's no way they're gonna take it up. they've also got this immunity question. it's coming from two direction. jack smith's bold move, which you called a serious poker move, going straight to the court, kind of the middlemen of the appellate court, let's get this done. if you're gonna let this guy walk, we're not going to let you do it quietly, and in the procedural delay, it is moving through the circuit court. these two major issues, two

. >>> and a new reporting about justice clarence thomas.omplaints about money and how they potentially lead to the ethics questions he faces now. >>> plus, president biden's frustrations over poll numbers. what he is facing heading to 2024, as the 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> greetings, everyone. i am symone symone sanders townsend, in for stephanie ruhle. >>> tonight, donald trump's extreme rhetoric ramps up as he campaigns with four weeks to go to the iowa caucuses, the first big test -- this week, the republican front-runner appeared before supporters in new hampshire, nevada, and said this about immigrants coming to the united states. >> when they let, i think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country, when they do that, we got a lot of work to do. they are poisoning the blood of our country, that's what they have done. they are coming to our country from africa, from asia, all over the world. they are pouring into our country. when i'm reelected, we will begin, and we have no choice, the large

. >> senate democrats have called for justice clarence thomas to recuse himself if the trump immunity because his wife, ginni thomas, helped push the big lie. what are your thoughts on that? >> in an ideal world, i think that would be the appropriate thing to do. just to avoid the appearance of impropriety. sometimes that's what people need to understand. regardless of whether clarence thomas could or would but -- issue an impartial decision it is the appearance of impropriety based off the cloud of wrongdoing that has been hanging over him from an ethical standpoint for a while now. and then you add, and as you just mentioned, the ties between his wife and spreading the big lie, all those things do not bode well for what would be a situation where clarence thomas would be able to come in and basically, like any other justice, render an opinion and be impartial. because of these things, even if he could, is the appearance of wrongdoing and impropriety that he would seem to avoid. given there are no hard and fast rules ethically on the supreme court, i fully expect clarence thomas's go

. >>> justice clarence thomas faces new pressure and rudy giuliani is being sued again.dlines on the morning newsstand. the "atlanta journal-constitution" reports two former georgia election workers are suing rudy giuliani again for allegedly continuing to spread falsehoods about them. on friday the jury ordered the former attorney for donald trump to pay the mother and daughter $148 million in damages for making false claims they committed election fraud. they claim giuliani is continuing to spread lies about them. they're not seeking additional damages. they're asking a court to stop them from making the baseless claims. >>> "the washington post" says democratic lawmakers are ramping up pressure on justice clarence thomas to recuse himself in the special election interference case. special counsel jack smith has asked the high court to rule on trump's claims. they say they're concerned about thomas' and to remain impartial after his wife's involvement to overturn the 2020 election results. they also cite the new court's code of conduct. >>> a federal judge issue and or

i say that because clarence thomas has no business hearing this case. why?was a major player in the whole insurrection. and he should, if he had principles, recuse himself. but i will guarantee you this, clarence thomas will recuse himself when johnny flies. >> i think you're right. i was wondering, could ginni thomas hold office under section 14 of the third 14th amendment? the other thing, with the good till january 4th, and i think we will see movement from them in some way. they're gonna say we want this briefed and we're going to take in some way. so they're either going to refused to take it up, or there's no way they're gonna take it up. they've also got this immunity question. it's coming from two direction. jack smith's bold move, which you called a serious poker move, going straight to the court, kind of the middlemen of the appellate court, let's get this done. if you're gonna let this guy walk, we're not going to let you do it quietly, and in the procedural delay, it is moving through the circuit court. these two major issues, two of the central

and a new reporting about justice clarence thomas.omplaints about money and how they potentially lead to the ethics questions he faces now. >>> plus, biden's frustrations over poll numbers. what he is facing heading to 2024 as the 11th hour gets underway on this monday night. ♪ ♪ ♪ >>> greetings, everyone. i am symone symone sanders townsend, in for stephanie ruhle. >>> tonight, donald trump's extreme rhetoric as he campaigns with four weeks to go to the i-aukus, the first big test -- this week, the republican front-runner appeared before supporters in new hampshire, nevada, and said this about immigrants coming to the united states. >> when they let, i think the real number is 15, 16 million people into our country, when they do that, we got a lot of work to do. they are poisoning the blood of our country, that's what they have done. they are coming to our country from africa, from asia, all over the world. they are pouring into our country. when i'm reelected, we will begin, and we have no choice, the largest deportation operation i

. >>> what did clarence thomas warn about that could lead to one or more supreme court justices resigning? as tina turner might paraphrase, what's money got to do with it? that's next. >>> private jets, luxury vacations, a free rv according to propublica, that's how supreme court justice clarence thomas apparently lives his life. it wasn't always like that. back in 2000 about a decade into his tenure on the supreme court, he complained about his salary and i mean openly to a member of congress saying if lawmakers didn't act, "one or more justices will leave soon." his salary at the time was $173,600, about $300,000 in today's money. fast forward in 2019 and thomas seems to have changed his tune. >> right now what is the compensation of a justice of the supreme court? >> oh, goodness, i think it's plenty. my wife and i are doing fine. we don't live extravagantly, but we are fine. >> a few weeks after that speech he hopped on the private jet of one of his billionaire friends and headed off to indonesia, where he and his wife ginny vacationed on that friend's 162-foot yacht. sounds fine to m

clarence thomas private complaints about money spoke fears that he would resign.glad you are here, thank you for joining us. you are reporting that justice thomas told a lawmaker that supreme court justices should get a raise, or that he feared one or more will leave soon, that is his quote. what happened after he raised concerns about his salary? >> well it raised alarms, a congressman who is now retired, that i talked to he left that conversation worried that justice thomas was the justice that would resign in short order, if congress did not raise salaries. that congressman push to get the salaries raised, another top official in judiciary wrote a memo to the chief justice of the supreme court and said, this seems like a crisis, what should we do about it? interestingly, congress never actually got its act together to give the justices a raise. but, as you mentioned, this was the same period when justice thomas was really beginning to develop relationships with a number of very, very wealthy businessmen. who started paying for various things in his life. >> coa

then justice clarence thomas said, "of course every decision comes with a price and you know the wifeove to travel #yachtlife." [ laughter and applause then -- then justice neil gorsuch said, "we will be fair and just. and finally, justice clarence thomas said, "so if you want a favorable ruling, just call me." [ laughter ] ♪ bitch better have my money ♪ "yello clarence speaking. guys, listen to this, after the colorado ruling was announced, trump's four republican rivals, nikki haley, ron desantis, chris christie and vivek ramaswamy all made statements criticizing the decision yep. all of them were like, "oh, no, we can't believe this happened [ laughter ] what a terrible, terrible, terrible news. oh, my goodness. vivek ramaswamy even pledged to withdraw from the colorado ballot in solidarity [ light laughter ] that's like mitch mcconnell recusing himself from being named "sexiest man alive." [ laughter ] you know what i'm saying that's right, it's possible that trump won't be allowed to have his name on the ballot in colorado, which might explain this ad i just saw last night. >> he

we know that clarence thomas's wife was closely involved in the efforts to overturn the election. she lobbied state legislators to reject the outcome. she was actually at the rally at january 6th which fomented the attack on the capitol. under federal law, not just the nonbinding ethics code that the court has put out, but actual federal law, a justice must recuse himself when there is a legitimate reason to believe that he is biased in the case, including a close personal relative who has some kind of vested interest in the outcome. this case is fundamentally about whether the president committed a criminal act. ginni thomas was part of the movement to achieve the act. i think there is an extraordinarily strong argument that justice thomas should recuse. however, he has not recused from any previous cases involving january 6th. i really don't think he will start now. >> mark joseph stern from slate, thank you, sir. have a good afternoon. >> thank you. >>> let's turn to the middle east now where israel's military announced that it has discovered the bodies of five more hostages in

clarence thomas is unrepentant about his own ethical issues and problems. i don't believe that clarence thomas believes he has any trouble with respect to his wife. they believe that they have some separation here that the rest of us can't see. >> yeah, they definitely believe they're above to law, but he's not above taking a few pricey gifts. he loves that. thank you, lisa reuben and glenn kirschner. >>> up next on "the reidout," former trump white house aide and key january 6th committee witness cassidy hutchinson gins me to share her fears about a second trump presidency. "the reidout" continues after this. [dog barks] no it's just a bunny! only pay for what you need. ♪liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty.♪ i've struggled with generalized myasthenia gravis. but the picture started changing when i started on vyvgart. vyvgart is for adults with generalized myasthenia gravis who are anti-achr antibody positive. in a clinical trial, vyvgart significantly improved most participants' ability to do daily activities when added to their current gmg treatment. most

and then there was justice clarence thomas.an who has told clerks he wants to make liberal's lives miserable. his wife virginia thomas is ancon servetive activist who colluded extensively with white house chief of staff mark meadows about overturning joe biden's victory over trump. now, in case you forgot, mrs. thomas sent meadows 29 text messages which she militantly and relentlessly demanded that the election results be invalidated because it was a, quote, obvious fraud. she demanded that meadows release the kraken and save us from the left taking america down. her husband will be one of the justices weighing trump's political future. clarence thomas already participated in two cases related to the 2020 election and its aftermath, despite his wife's direct involvement in the so-called stop the steal efforts. one of those cases had to do with trump's white house records being turned over to the house committee investigating the january 6th insurrection. only one justice disagreed. clarence thomas. the colorado case isn't the o

there has been a call for clarence -- thomas to recuse himself regarding the upcoming cases that areg to be before the case, and ginni thomas's connection to january 6th. is there any chance that that's going to happen, and should it? >> i am more likely to grow a set of bat wings and fly around my condo that i am for clarence thomas to recuse from any case, because of concerns about him being politically or corrupt in any way. he should resign, you don't get to take the kind of money that he's taken in staying in government office. but there's no enforcement mechanism, so nothing is going to happen to him. >> dewitt lake, lithwick, and ian mill highs are, the batman, thank you to you both. happy new year. that's going to do it for me, it is truly been a pleasure. thank you to ali velshi for allowing me to sit in his seat, as well as well she's amazing team. though she will be back next week, and you can watch him here on saturday and sunday morning from 10 am to noon eastern. but you don't need to wait that long, you can actually catch him tonight at five pm eastern on msnbc's polit

julia, thanks. >>> up next, more possible ethics concerns surrounding clarence thomas.e of the reporters behind the latest information on that. you're watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. watching joset reports on msnbc choose acid prevention. choose nexium. ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [bell ringing] and doug says, “you can customize and save hundreds on car insurance with liberty mutual.” he hits his mark —center stage— and is crushed by a baby grand piano. are you replacing me? with this guy? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache! oh, look! a bibu. [limu emu squawks.] only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ (smelling) ew. gotta get rid of this. ♪tell me why♪ because it stinks. ♪have you tried downy rinse and refresh♪ it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. it worked guys! ♪yeahhhh♪ downy rinse and refresh. when moderate to severe ulcerative colitis takes you off course. put it in check with rinvoq, a once-daily pill. when i wanted to see results fast, rinvoq delivered rapid symptom relief and

that is clarence thomas, who has been fruit basket turnover and bush versus gore the court decided that case the day after they heard oral argument. the appreciated the importance of an election related issue and they did not take an ounce more time than they needed to reach a decision. so the country could move forward. that's the question that we are looking at here. will this court feel that same urgency? when they decide these cases quickly? some of these cases can go a little bit more slowly than others. the third of the cases, the determination about whether the obstruction statute applies, that one doesn't necessarily need to move at lightning speed. but these other two, the decision being of peeled from colorado and the question of whether trump is entitled to have the indictment dismissed on the basis of his immunity and his double jeopardy arguments, if this case is going to be tried before the election, those decisions need to happen pretty quickly. and that, i think, is the point trump's lawyers have raised here. and look, it's not a frivolous argument. their argument is tha

he's considered to be one of the closest circuit allies left of clarence thomas, and for those of youemember when he was first appointed, he was a recess appointment from the first president bush. because he was so controversial in terms of how conservative he was. i think it's incredible that he was the one who offered a. obviously, the arguments from the attorneys did not change anybody's mind. and at the end of the day, probably one of the most significant things that come out of this as well are basically, they batted down all the immunity arguments. which will now go back to the state courts, and judges like judge mcafee are gonna be presented with those arguments -- and now there's actually a roadmap, and with where liam prior basically showing them the way. >> jeff duncan, that is a really good point about who this is coming from. especially, you know, from someone like trump who always pays attention. you always see's attorneys arguing about who ththe judges - this is one of thehe most conservative judges on the federal bench. as i noted, he was on trump's supreme court shortl

to destroy clarence thomas's reputation. to pat the court, to get your way, to make sure the supreme court exists today can't function. the democrats need to destroy clarence thomas's reputation. nutter reader of the new republic but i think a lot of people on your side probably do. and this is what you are trying to do and you are going to meet a real brick wall over here and this is going to fundamentally change the way the committee operates and it's a choice you made, live with your choice. i will end where i started. if you think this is a problem, bring up the bill, passed by the committee. you have the power to do it. you are never going to do because you know a lot of your own members won't support this. you know it's not going to work . you are trying to please a group. you are not trying to make this committee function. >> before moving to the subpoena authorization, we consider the nominees. judgments up akashi by nominee to the u.s. court by the district of oregon, the clerk will call role. >> will we have an opp

. >> ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, was involved in efforts to overturnon. and you think justin -- justice thomas should recuse himself in this case? >> well, i do. thinking back to u.s. versus nixon, justice ryan quickest excused himself merely because he had worked in the department of justice and he knew some of the individuals who were the subject of the inquiry. obviously, there is a lot of public, well, mrs. thomas came before the january 6th committee, we had her texts and showed her involvement with some of the principles that were being prosecuted. i think it would be prudent for the justice to recuse, just -- judge rehnquist did those many years ago in 1974. >> and tonight also, cnn is reporting the special counsel smith might try to use data from electronic devices to show jurors when trump was using twitter on january 6th. and you believe that there is electronic data that, for example, the house january 6th committee was not able to get, that the special counsel might have access to, and that could be important in this case? >> well, i don't

he goes to this west virginia resort, with clarence and ginni thomas. changed my mind. now, we should ask the court to overturn roe v. wade entirely and not bother with 15 weeks. what happened in the interim? we obviously don't know. maybe adam will have reporting on that, but i think the key assumption is that obviously, something sleazy went on behind the scenes. given the justices'unscrupulous behavior, it's reasonable to draw those conclusions. >> mark joseph stern, thank you as always for your time and analysis, sir. i appreciate it. that is our show for tonight. now, it is time for the last word with my friend katie phang in for lawrence, good evening, katie. >>> good evening, alex, hope

it's a little strange and then you've got justice clarence thomas whose wife was involved, somewhat involved, what you think of that? some would say that justice thomas at a minimum should recuse himself. there were multiple cases, a handful of cases after the november, 2020 election involving donald trump's claim of fraud and involving how the ballots should be counted because of covid and justice thomas did not recuse himself and didn't make it known that his wife was involved in efforts to persuade vice president pence to not certify the election for joe biden. the supreme court has a new code of ethics but there is no enforcement mechanism so it's up to the justices. there is no police on the beat to say if you don't do it you're in trouble and there's no accountability. that's probably unlikely in the suggestion that just because a president appointed you -- that would be a problem for the supreme court anytime a president appoints someone and they are still president because all kinds of cases involving the federal government come up before the court. i don't think that's a strong argu

. >>> and justice clarence thomas is in the hot seat again.st time i connected with kim, she told me that her husband had passed. and that he took care of all of the internet connected devices in the home. i told her, “i'm here to take care of you.” connecting with kim... made me reconnect with my mom. it's very important to keep loved ones close. we know that creating memories with loved ones brings so much joy to your life. a family trip to the team usa training facility. i don't know how to thank you. i'm here to thank you. >>> quick hits across america. arizona supreme court hears arguments on the state's near total abortion ban which dates back to the civil war. at issue is whether arizona completely bans abortion or maintains a ban after 15 weeks of pregnancy. a decision expected early next year. >>> and president biden meets with families whose loved ones are being held hostage by hamas at the white house today. at least eight american, seven men and one woman, have been missing since the start of the war. >>> new york's highest court h

the author of those texts was ginni thomas, wife of justice clarence thomas.has swarmed of her right-wing activism does not influence her husband's work. when she was called before the january six committee last year, she told them, it is laughable for anybody who knows my husband to think i can influence his -- the man is independent and stubborn with strong character traits of independence and integrity. this is a couple that reportedly shares a brain. in a 2011 speech, justice thomas himself said that his wife, we are equally yoked and we love being with each other because we love the same things. we believe in the same things. so, this week, senate judiciary chair dick durbin, and other democrats, have begun calling for justice clarence thomas to recruit himself from trump's january 6th case. senator durbin told the senator there is unanswered questions about the relationship of the justice and his family from the trump administration but i think in the interest of justice, thomas should recuse himself. now, whether justice thomas keeps these calls is very

. >> ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, was involved in efforts to overturnou think justice thomas should recuse himself in this case? >> well, i do. thinking back to u.s. versus nixon, justice rehnquist recused himself merely because he had worked in the department of justice and he knew some of the individuals who were the subject of the inquiry. obviously, there is a lot of public, well, ms. thomas came before the january 6th committee, we had her texts and showed her involvement with some of the principles that were being prosecuted. i think it would be prudent for the justice to recuse, just as justice rehnquist did those many years ago in 1974. >> and tonight also, cnn is reporting that special counsel smith might try to use data from electronic devices to show jurors when trump was using twitter on january 6th. do you believe that there is electronic data that, for example, the house january 6th committee was not able to get, that the special counsel might have access to, and that could be important in this case? >> well, i don't know. because as you j

he goes to this west virginia resort, with clarence and ginni thomas. back to mississippi and says, i change my mind. now, we should ask the court to overturn roe v. wade entirely and not bother with 15 weeks. what happened in the interim? we obviously don't know. maybe adam will have reporting on that, but i think the key assumption is that obviously, something sleazy went on behind the scenes. given the justices unscrupulous behavior, it's reasonable to draw those conclusions. >> mark joseph stern, thank you as always for your time and analysis, sir. i appreciate it. that is our show for tonight. now, it

i mean i think we have seen that clarence thomas has very little sense of personal responsibility or shame, and so therefore, there's zero likelihood that he will recuse him. do you think he will? >> i think he might, actually. it is so political. it is so close. >> oh, wow. i'll bet you -- >> i don't think he will and i think he will continue to try to make the argument that i am not responsible for my spouse's political activity, which by the way, if you're going to make the standard, you are responsible for your spouse's political activity, there are a lot of americans who really -- >> and apparently, the president's responsible for -- >> i'm sorry? >> i said apparently the president is responsible for his son's business activities. so i mean, you know -- >> that's not quite -- >> well, not quite the same. >> well -- >> in any case, we struggle sometimes to come up with a common theme for our yea or nay segment. and the best we can do today is some c words, cash, coffee, and a cute canine. those are some of the 700 million reasons to stick around. along with our panel's top take,

john yoo, former law clerk to clarence thomas. great to have this outstanding panel with us. first let's go to chad pergram and get the latest on the breaking news this hour on a friday afternoon on capitol hill. hi, chad. >> march that good afternoon. jack smith has lost his effort to speed up consideration as to whether the former president was immune from prosecution for interfering with the 2020 presidential election. now, this first goes to an appeals court likely in washington d.c. only then would it later go to the supreme court. this likely upends the chances of a march 4 trial date for the former president. jack smith wanted quick action by the supreme court effectively by passing the appellate court. listen. >> a special counsel was asking effectively to leap frog over the d.c. circuit in order to get a judgment as quickly as possible. jack smith has made very clear that he wants this case tried before the election. >> this upends the potential political calendar. it's unclear if the case by special counsel jack smith can be wrapped up before the election. the trump

clarence thomas has not responded for comment on the story.? the iowa caucuses are next month. that means it's election year. the economy, inflation and jobs. other issues concern people in very different ways. these wedge issues make selections unpredictable. larry, usually it is abortion or immigration. >> they are everywhere. everyone is talking about them in different ways. big chasms between the democrats and republicans. let's look at the immigration issue which is really a nice way of saying border security. keeping the border safe from immigrants coming in. republicans, this is a yes or no issue. that is a critical issue and you could see how stuck they are holding up the whole thing with israel.>> will this supersede something else? we've got other things to worry about. the fact that they are so different, makes it tough for congress. >> that's one that cuts right down the middle. everyone worries about the economy and jobs. they feel different on policy issues but it's not the kind of thing that without the country.>> the take away comes with the abortion issues. 76%

we learned a lot about harlan crow and clarence thomas. certainly the most jarring and alarming.m understanding the pie analogy best i think that what we have exposed, what we've learned here is what they all have pie on their face for their ethical -- >> when they came with their -- they still had to planted. >> after the georgia indictments came down, there were so many people involved in that that some of them decided that they were going to take please. the one that i found the most interesting ways digitalize. nobody used to know, she would show up next to rudy giuliani, and all of those press conferences, including at the four seasons in philadelphia. four seasons landscaping company. she would just talk, and talk, endlessly about stuff that was entirely nonsense. then when she took the plea and made a statement, if i had known now what i knew then i wouldn't have defended donald trump. come on, you just need to read a pamphlet. watching that allocution with something. it was notable. that's exactly right. >> you've got anyone else that you caught with blueberry pie? >> lik

he's considered to be one of the closest circuit allies to clarence thomas, and for those of you who remember, when he was first appointed, he was a recess appointment from the first president bush, because he was so controversial in terms of how conservative he was. so i think it's incredible that he was the one who authored it. obviously, the arguments from the attorneys did not change anybody's mind. at the end of the day, i think probably one of the most significant things that come out of this as well are basically they batted down all of the immunity arguments. so which will now go back to the state court, and judges like judge mcafee is going to be presented with those arguments in terms of the supremacy claus, and now there's a road map, and with william pryor showing them the way. >> yeah, geoff duncan, that is a really good point about who this is coming from. especially, you know, from someone like trump who always pays attention, you see his attorneys arguing about who the judge is. this is one of the most conservative judges on the federal -- on the federal bench, as i n

the author of those texts was ginni thomas, wife of justice clarence thomas.d of her right-wing activism does not influence her husband's work. when she was called before the january six committee last year, she told them, it is laughable for anybody who knows my husband to think i can influence his -- the man is independent and stubborn with strong character traits of independence and integrity. this is a couple that reportedly shares a brain. in a 2011 speech, justice thomas himself said that his wife, we are equally yoked and we love being with each other because we love the same things. we believe in the same things. so, this week, senate judiciary chair dick durbin, and other democrats, have begun calling for justice clarence thomas to recruit himself from trump's january 6th case. senator durbin told the senator there is unanswered questions about the relationship of the justice and his family from the trump administration but i think in the interest of justice, thomas should recuse himself. now, whether justice thomas keeps these calls is very much an o

clarence thomas faces new financial scrutiny recusal calls.upreme court justice is facing fresh pressure on multiple fronts following new reporting about his financial history, and democrats urges recusal in the election interference case. democrats cited the court's new code of ethics by pointing to the actions of his wife and her reported efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. the scrutiny underscores influence and influence wielded by the powerful conservative justice, the most senior member of the nation's highest court. the washington examiner has an article about ketanji brown jackson with an ethics complaint over her husband's income. was the target of an ethics complaint regarding her husband's income. the conservative center for renewing america expressed the complaint in a letter to the judicial conference. the complaint alleges that jackson did not report some of her husband's income for more than a decade. the letter urges the group to refer the matter to attorney general merrick garland and to begin an ethics investigatio

your organization has filed criminal and civil complaints against clarence thomas, i want you, if you expand on the argument that you're making. but on this issue of the colorado, voting if it makes its way to the supreme court, should somebody like justice thomas recuse himself from hearing based on comments on him and his wife have been making regarding the 2020 election? >>> so, first, the complaints that were brought last year against justice thomas were based on his failure to report certain gifts that he received over a period of time from an individual who befriended him after he became justice on the supreme court. and had business before the court. so we will see how those complaints proceed. i think with respect to our case, there is a pretty significant bar for when a justice should recuse. i think it's a question for justice thomas. unlike in some of the other cases that were at issue, we push for justice thomas's recusal, his spouse is not a witness, or was not a witness in our case. certainly you can argue she was a witness to some of the -- that related to january 6th.

. >> clarence thomas. >> the year of anita hill. >> and she acknowledged who she was, but it was not overriding conversation or identity, but it is coming to play in interesting ways. the casey abortion case, and saying that states can pass x-amount of laws saying it is not an undue burden, and she rejected spousal notification. and women should not have to ask their husbands -- >> the ceremony is about to begin. >> we receive the body of our sister sandra day o'connor for burial. let us pray with confidence to god, the giver of life, that he will raise her to perfection in the company of the saints. deliver your servant sandra, o'sovereign, that she may rest with all of the saints for eternally and reign with one god forever and ever. amen. >> let us also pray for all who mourn that they may cast their care on god and know the consolation of his love. almighty god, look with pity on the sorrow of your servants with whom we pray. remember them, lord, in mercy, nourish them in patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your continence on them and give them peace thr

clarence thomas faces new financial scrutiny recusal calls.reme court justice is facing fresh pressure on multiple fronts following new reporting about his financial history, and democrats urges recusal in the election interference case. democrats cited the court's new code of ethics by pointing to the actions of his wife and her reported efforts to challenge the 2020 election results. the scrutiny underscores influence and influence wielded by the powerful conservative justice, the most senior member of the nation's highest court. the washington examiner has an article about ketanji brown jackson with an ethics complaint over her husband's income. was the target of an ethics complaint regarding her husband's income. the conservative center for renewing america expressed the complaint in a letter to the judicial conference. the complaint alleges that jackson did not report some of her husband's income for more than a decade. the letter urges the group to refer the matter to attorney general merrick garland and to begin an ethics investigation,