and ginni thomas.f american power, but they brought with them the divisions, grievances, and the bitter approach to politics that had shaped them. >> we already know too little about clarence thomas and ginni thomas's entanglements. >> narrator: the controversy continuing to follow them. >> clarence thomas has refused to recuse himself from supreme court cases related to trump and the election. >> it'll just roll off his back like water off of a duck's back. "they're out to get me. "they're going to use anything they can to get me. "i've got a very clear view "of where i'm trying to go and what i'm trying to do and i'm not going to look left or right." >> ginni thomas has publicly denied any conflict of interest between her activism and her husband's work. >> narrator: their personal scandals... >> in clarence thomas's case, this is not the first ethics incident, even in recent years. >> narrator: ...now fueling doubts about the legitimacy of the court itself. >> the supreme court trust hitting an all-

clarence thomas and ginni thomas, how did they get to know each other? >> they were at an anti-affirmative action conference in new york city. she was an attorney, the national chamber of commerce, very big into not getting equal pay for women and other issues. very contrarian issues. clarence himself was far from the aao see in the reagan administration. one of the people in the top upper reaches of the reagan administration. in the story we tell, how did clarence thomas find himself in that position? her version of the story is she saw this powerful, attractive man and says to him how can you work in the reagan administration? how does a black man do it? he pulls out some prayer cards. when i'm up against challenges and that did it for ginni thomas who has a binary view of the world, part of is the religious fervor against the other side, the democrats, the progressives, whoever she is up against. that was it. a kind of kismet moment in new york of all things, no iron he intended, affirmative action, anti-affirmative action conference where they have b

our report does not show that the nonprofit or its payment to ginni thomas suede clarence thomas because he had and they pass but the bar for recusal for a federal judge is a reasonable person will questioned the impartiality of the judge, so ethics experts we talked to are divided on whether he should have recused or accused. >> yeah, then there is the no mention of ginni caveat, which is to me, like, if anything will run an alarm bell, it's the idea that these payments, we can talk about actually who they are going through, and they are fun up to a third party from just a sunlight point of view, from a transparency, disclosure point of view, how could this be? >> it's very easy to hide that money. i have a--. i could be paying jimmy thomas right now, checks in the mail. the thing is that one justice is -- so justices do have to fill out a financial disclosure report every year. we know that there are a lot of emissions that they've had and the financial disclosure report that he's had in the 32 years on the court. all he has the list is his wife's employer, and his wife employer is sel

kelly and thomas -- kellyanne conway and the thomas did not respond to requests for comment to the postthe latest scandal as raised a bunch of new questions for the thomas family and their benefactor's, including questions about the nonprofit that leonard leo used to pay ginni thomas. according to the washington post, that nonprofit was taking in less than $50,000 a year back in 2011. but in 2012, the same years that the secret payments were made to ginni thomas, that same nonprofit suddenly pulled in 1.5 million in anonymous donations, one point $5 million and $150,000 of that money was spent on poor. who was pouring all of that money all of a sudden into leonard wheels profit? was that money secretly going to ginni thomas? where was going and experience or expertise did ginni thomas have that would make or someone that you would want handling your polling, especially if you were already polling expert? i'm going to talk to one of the reporters who broke the story and one of the people pushing to fix our broken supreme court coming up next. coming up next on. astepro is the first and o

it's truly just the beginning when it comes to justice clarence thomas. it comes on the heels of reporting about all bunch of other undisclosed financial benefit the thomas's family got from the conservative billionaire, harlan crow, who paid tuition for a child who thomas raised as a son, who bought thomas's mother's house where she lives rent free, and he fixed it up and took thompson's wife on luxuries vacations on his yacht and private jet, with hundreds of thousands of dollars. do you have a friend like that? i sure as heck don't. he even commission this truly spectacular painting of the two of them, which i will never ever tire of showing you, and the reason we know this is not from financial disclosure forms for revelations from thomas himself. we know this because of the doggett work of reporters, digging into the financial entanglements surrounding one of the most powerful men in the country, despite the obvious attempts people like leonard leo, in his own admission, in black and white and subsequently confirmed, to hide the truth of that money f

, but to ginni thomas?as incapable of shock. and i thought that this morning's revelations about the school tuition were pretty shocking. and then, to get this blockbuster reporting from the washington post, that puts the lie to the notion that leonard leo and the federalist society in the groups that he is involved with are just benign debating societies, that they are just friends with the thomas is -- i mean, this is kind of the whole enchilada splayed out for all of us to see. and as you say, it's not just that the same, quote, no mention of genie, of course, on the paperwork -- again, it's an admission that, again, he knows that would be wrong. but you have this organization that is funneling money through kellyanne conway, to ginni thomas, and then that the same organization is filing amicus briefs in shelby county, that comes down 5 to 4 with clarence thomas as the deciding vote -- this is not a debate society. this is not just an organization that is trying to shape or we shape the federal courts. t

thomas dolby. before we _ next thing. thomas dolby. before we go, _ next thing. thomas dolby.g plastic wrappers in favour of paper. the change, ju5t plastic wrappers in favour of paper. the change, just a pilot at the moment, is an attempt by the company to be more environmentally friendly. that's all we have on asia business report. goodbye for now. sally has been an hgv driver forjust over a year. she only drives in the day but says finding somewhere decent and safe to park is difficult.- safe to park is difficult. some have not safe to park is difficult. some have got good _ safe to park is difficult. some have got good parking, - safe to park is difficult. some| have got good parking, others haven't. in the day it's not so bad but i know i wouldn't feel safe at night. i have done one night out alongside my husband. we had to park on the side of the road. we had to park on the side of the road-— the road. this man runs his family haulage _ the road. this man runs his family haulage firm - the road. this man runs his family haulage firm in - family haulage firm in worcesters

thomas. income tax return. a lawyer representing clarence thomas and his wife issued a written statement today, claiming that clarence thomas did not have to disclose the massive payments to him because they were made on behalf of clarence thomas's nephew instead of what the ethics and government act calls a dependent child. of course clarence thomas has not revealed whether he claimed the young man as a dependent child on his tax return. which he could have legally done. propublica's once again today deepened the scandal of clarence thomas's financial dependence on the texas billionaire, harlan crow. that was a bad enough day for clarence thomas alone. but it got worse tonight. much worse. when the washington post in an exclusive report revealed that kellyanne conway secretly fall and the money to clarence thomas's wife for no apparent services whatsoever. kellyanne conway was funneling the money from leonard leo, who has grown superrich creating a pipeline of republican nominees to federal

to ginni thomas?ve to say i thought i was incapable of shock and i thought this morning's revelations about the school tuition were pretty shocking and then to get this blockbuster reporting from "the washington post" that puts the lie to the notion that leonard leo and the federalist society and the groups he's involved with are just benign debating societies, that they're just friends with the thomass, i mean this is kind of the whole enchilada splayed out for all of us to see. and as you say it's not just he's say no mention of ginni on the paperwork, again an admission he knows that would be wrong, but to have this organization that's funneling money through kelly conway through ginni thomas and then this organization is filing amicus briefs in shelby county that comes down 5-4 with clarence thomas a deciding vote, this isn't a debate society, this isn't just an organization that's trying to shape or reshape the federal courts. this is an organization with a huge sprawling network of front groups

thomas's pocket.w clarence thomas 's mother is living at no expense at all to clarence thomas, all thanks to the best friend a supreme court justice could ever have as long as that justice does not mind being exposed as the most corrupt supreme court justice the court has ever had. if there has been a more corrupt supreme court justice than clarence thomas, then that corruption has more remain secret. no such corruption has ever been made public. in an interview with the atlantic, published today, harlan crow expresses astonishment that anyone could ever be concerned about the integrity of clarence thomas. i have never, nor would i ever, think about talking about matters that relate to the judiciary with justice clarence thomas, crow said. he told the atlantic, they talk about thomas like the weather, and sports, and then decided to amend that after the interview in an email saying quote, it is not realistic for two people to be friends and not talk about their jobs from time to time. thomas has spoke

it is a thomas court.d implications about that, which we can obviously talk about. we started to make our film. we look at the life story of clarence and ginny. the unlikely story of the two of them coming together and becoming what somebody in the film calls the it couple of the far right in washington. we said to ourselves, ok, we will make a 90 minute film. then, all of the information comes out about harlan crow and other gifts that have been given to clarence and ginny thomas and our film expanded to two hours. you've got the whole package inside this film. the back story, the reality of the court, the reality of the lives of these two markable individuals. that is really where we have found ourselves earlier this week when the film started to air on streaming and on cbs. -- pbs. host: how did their story begin? how did they first begin to know each other? guest: they were at an anti-affirmative action conference in new york city. ginny was an attorney for the national chamber of commerce, she was ver

it is a thomas court.d implications about that, which we can obviously talk about. we started to make our film. we look at the life story of clarence and ginny. the unlikely story of the two of them coming together and becoming what somebody in the film calls the it couple of the far right in washington. we said to ourselves, ok, we will make a 90 minute film. then, all of the information comes out about harlan crow and other gifts that have been given to clarence and ginny thomas and our film expanded to two hours. you've got the whole package inside this film. the back story, the reality of the court, the reality of the lives of these two markable individuals. that is really where we have found ourselves earlier this week when the film started to air on streaming and on cbs. -- pbs. host: how did their story begin? how did they first begin to know each other? guest: they were at an anti-affirmative action conference in new york city. ginny was an attorney for the national chamber of commerce, she was ver

that represented a capital loss to justice thomas. however, because the transaction was more than $100,000, justice thomas was obligated to reported on his financial disclosure form, but did not do so because he mistakenly believe he did not have to report a transaction on what he suffered a loss -- on which he suffered a loss. it bears mentioning that justice thomas would not be the first justice to amend financial disclosure forms. justices breyer and ginsburg have done so without the betting of a night and will no doubt,-- batting of an eye, and will no doubt nevertheless. the firm is litigated over a dozen cases before the court, winning eight and losing four. the merits of these cases have not been discussed by critics, nor has it been indicated whether justice gorsuch gave a deciding opinion in any of them. criticism has progressed, if that is the word, from meritless with justices thomas and gorsuch to lucas with justice alito and others --ludacris with justice alito and others, with the claim that the academy has influence wit

and ginni thomas.hey put out statements. they said, nothing to see here. there's nothing wrong with this. how is this -- how are regular folks, who are watching this, seeing and reading what is happening. how are they supposed to continue to have faith in the supreme court given what you just described? you know, i used to work at the white house, and this would definitely be a no no. he there. >> yes, it is a neat trick, the supreme court doesn't have an ethics code and therefore clarence thomas has not violated any ethics code because they have no ethics code for him to violate. there may be some federal statutes that he's violated along the way. but, ultimately, what this comes down to is when you worked at the white house, the reason why you wouldn't have done anything like that, hopefully because you are an ethical person, but also because there would have been consequences if the white house employee did something like this. the problem with clarence thomas, or any other supreme court justice, is

for thomas great-nephew who thomas raised as a son. n karl reporting tonight. >>> the verdict for singer ed sheeran on whether he copied marvin gaye's song. you will hear his reaction tonight. >>> late word coming in tonight on they are stabbing spree near the campus of uc davis. they say a former student. >>> tracking severe storms and a tornado watch as we come on across several states. the big change we are tracking coming to the northeast. >>> america strong tonight, the proud young garbageman who made it to harvard law about to graduate and what he is now done. >>> from abc news world headquarters in new york, this is "world news tonight" with david muir. >>> good evening. great to have you with us on thursday night. we begin with the verdict in the trial of five members of the far right group the proud boys. former leader and three of his lieutenants convicted of seditious conspiracy in a plot to use force to keep donald trump in power. members of the proud boys seen in those images of the attack thatthheor watchi their leader at

. , ., thomas.will admit he lost to _ thomas. yes, and in the end he will admit he lost to the _ thomas. yes, and in the end he will admit he lost to the better - thomas. yes, and in the end he will admit he lost to the better rider. i admit he lost to the better rider. the road you can see behind me was that final descent and it wasn't just surrounded by slovenian fans. as we had in the package we are not too far away from the border and they troubled him in such incredible numbers. —— it wasjust they troubled him in such incredible numbers. —— it was just surrounded. it felt like roglic was on home turf, whether that's by them on or it was losing the tour in such dramatic circumstances a couple of years ago, for whatever reason he saved his best performance until right at the end and to overturn a 26 seconds deficit to win the ultimate stage here and take pink, itjust showed the class of the three—time champion, time trial champion, now at giro d'italia champion, now at giro d'italia champion, wil

because of clarence thomas, dick durbin did not try to bring clarence thomas in, assuming he would decline. now he extended the offer to justice roberts and he has declined. groups like ours and other folks have said, well, if the court is not going to investigate it on its own and the court is not going to comply with voluntary request to appear before congress, congress is going to have to do its own investigation and will have to compel witness testimony from other people. not the justices themselves perhaps but other people involved in some of these controversies that have come to light. clarence thomas may say separation of power so i will not come up here, but harlan crow cannot say that. the gentleman that bought the property in colorado cannot say that. there is increasing pressure now on congressional democrats, including chairman durbin, to do fact-finding with respect to the other individuals in these transactions. what were they trying to achieve? how did they meet the justices? how did they decide to let clarence thomas's mother continue to live in the house rent free for 10 y

propublica reports crow paid the tuition for thomas' grand nephew who thomas considers his son.ho he had legal custody of, to not one but two boarding schools. and we don't know how much crow paid, but propublica estimates it could be in excess of $150,000. in a statement, crow said that justice thomas didn't ask for the money. additionally, he told propublica he has long been passionate about the importance of quality education and giving back to those less fortunate, especially at-risk youth. at-risk youth? according to a thomas friend, crow paid the schools directly on behalf of the justice and thomas was not required to disclose the tuition payments to schools because his great nephew did not fit the definition of a dependent child under the ethics in government act. interestingly, the thomases did not reject the payment for their grand nephew, just to recap, mr. crow has reportedly paid for clarence thomas' private jet rides, his yacht cruises and bought thomas' mother's house where she still lives rent free. at this point, crow has allegedly dished out hundreds of thousand

thomas did not disclose the.ank statement interview, nbc news has not independently verified this report. in his, statement harlan crow says this. these scholarships and other contributions have always been paid solely from personal funds, sometimes held and pay through the family business. nbc news has reached out to the supreme court with requests for comment from the court and justice thomas. with me now, nbc's legal analyst, joyce vance. joyce, we have a lot to talk about. thank you for joining us. this payment made for consulting work done by ginni thomas. in which there was this idea of no mention of ginni in the payment. from kellyanne conway. did justice thomas have illegal and or at the go obligation to report this? money we >> of course he, did yasmin. the entire landscape here is predicated on the notion that judges, including supreme court justices, should avoid any appearance of impropriety. and that is why you bend over backwards. i did the same thing as a u.s. attorney, you go above and beyond what

thomas also failed to disclose that he had sold property to crow, including a home where thomas' motherlives rent-free. meanwhile, politico has revealed justice neil gorsuch sold 40 acres of property just days after his senate confirmation to the head of one of the nation's largest law firms, which has since had 22 cases before the supreme court. and business insider reports the wife of chief justice john roberts has been paid over $10 million as a job recruiter for placing lawyers at elite law firms, including some who have had cases before the court. there are also questions about the finances of clarence thoma'' wife, the right-wing activist ginni thomas. senate judiciary chair dick durbin opened tuesday's hearing by talking about justice thomas. >> last month we learned about a justice who for years has accepted lavish trips and real estate purchases worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from a billionaire with interest before the court. that justice failed to disclose these gifts and has faced no apparent consequences under the courts ethics principles. that justice claims the cru

when she said i may try to do the same with father thomas 16 you 2. but it wasn't very pleasant to see because he was already an older man and didn't really take care of himself when she did that. he left the dentist bell very good to me. so i'll take a cable, major pony saw, but i took it as a formal recommend exist to install the don't extra usual i could have refused to the principal, but i felt like a bird that had been hypnotized by a snake as i could have flown away but i was paralyzed limits and michelle false was unable to find the strength to escape from the 2 brothers who took trance, abusing her when they visited as a good nun, she didn't dare to defy the authority of either priest. she was like many nuns penniless. the ladies who have found the tumor, us to begin working with a catholic community called lush. the arc where he was a spiritual advisor. michelle false became a staff member and moved into the house where she still lives today. the last was founded in 1964 and 22 in northern france. the 3 is active internationally and has a $15

the origin this looks like on the father thomas was summoned to rome in 1952. he was tried and forbidding tip, a full mass give sacraments to each other's end, above all. so beating from providing spiritual guidance is the cool thing is these internal sanctions, which it considered severe punishment and kinda know, had no effect. the priest re offended for decades. superiors looked on my closing his eyes. the church gave father to him. i caught blanche to do as he placed it was able to draw an army of priests inches, width of twist, 5 emulates who? until recently, with commission crimes. just like the 5th about how you present the thomas certainly had peoples who he initiated into this madness. go on that. couldn't we met one of the priest who it abused an assistant? obviously, the assistant told her parents this is called the parents who knew decreased off. tim, if the home is what, how daughter is saying true. like like a seal. you know this because we have high school that's as a success. increase down safety is a coupon. i can understand you are upset becau

thomas was actually his legal guardian.taken legal custody of the child when he was 6 years old, and in thomas's own words, he raised him as a son, and so for high school thomas sent the child to private boarding school, and harlan crow secretly picked up the tab. and for context, i mean, we've previously reported that crow's unusual role helping fund the lives of thomas and his family including the private jet flights, the international yacht vacations, actually paying him and his relatives money in an undisclosed real estate deal, and this adds a whole new dimension to that. >> and according to your reporting, this goes back to 2008, the tuition payments specifically, when this relative was in high school. your team as you mentioned has uncovered not just this but you've over the course of several weeks reported on private yachts, luxurious vacations, real estate transactions. i think the big question a lot of us are wondering is why? why was crow providing all of this? do you have any sense of that answer? >> well, we ha

thomas did everything he could but it was not enough.al. for geraint thomas, in the course of time, how do you think he will reflect on this tour? what realistically were his ambitions for him and the team coming into it? it is a good question, he had a lot of illness over the winter, he did not start riding properly until march so he said if you told if you told him then he would finish at second he would have bitten your hand off, but when you come into the final day or at least the final decisive day with a 26—second lead, it was obviously pretty devastating way to lose it, when you are 37 years old, you have achieved so much in the sport and two months ago you are thinking will you be in any sort of competitive shape, he definitely would have taken this and it is another big moment, still a big achievement in his career, but i think for now it is going to be very, very raw for him. yes, bruising, definitely. what do you think he will be targeting now for the rest of this season? has he made public anything in particular? no, this was

clarence thomas, chief justice roberts expressed skepticism.ing issue could stop all kinds of student loan forgiveness. so it is extremely significant that clarence thomas had his grandnephew, who he treated as a son, sort of adopted early on, this republican activist billionaire paying over $6,000 a month. are we talking about crossing a line between civil and criminal liability here? dahlia: it is really difficult to know what harlan crow could be on the hook for. i certainly think we are crossing the line between ethical rules and corruption. it is worth noting right here that the supreme court has been one of the largest players in changing the definition of what corruption is, demanding that we talk in terms of quid quote pro corruption is a really narrow definition. that is the supreme court's doctrine in recent decades. under your question is the question of how is it possible that clarence thomas's ruling on the loan forgiveness case that harlan crow's wife gives you an organization, the manhattan institute, has an amicus brief in that

he lay down on top of major must pass too much to father thomas did. something that i know today is called connie link s e if she was sure i had already satisfied. father murphy, dominique early before i start at the time he wasn't verbal. instead, he used gestures and signs to get me to do it when she said, i'm in charge of the same with father thomas searching you too, but it wasn't very pleasant because he was already an older man and didn't really take care of himself, which you did you never, you didn't go very good, take me some type of paper, major pony saw, but i took it as a formal recommend exist installs. i don't have to. so usual i could have refused in principle, but i felt like a bird that had been hypnotized by a snake as i could have thrown away. but i was paralyzed limits. but michel falls was unable to find the strength to escape from the 2 brothers who took trance, abusing her when they visited as a good nun, she didn't dare to defy the associate of either priced. she was like many nuns penniless. eliza found the tumor us to begin wo

wife, ginni thomas. surprise, i'm ayman mohyeldin, let's get started. ♪ ♪ ♪ we start tonight with that breaking news, on the horrific mall shooting in allen, texas. according to two senior law enforcement officials, the suspected gunman, the suspected gunman, excuse me, interacted with neo-nazis and white supremacist content online. one of the officials said the suspect posted this kind of content himself. the other official said he consume such rhetoric online, and said that authorities found him with a patch with a right-wing acronym on his chest. we should note the official said it is too early an investigation to ascribe a motive, but here's what we do know. eight people, including a five year child, died in that shooting. of course, as we've just said, the republican refrain after massacres like this one is always thoughts and prayers. no action, zero change. that is undoubtedly the standard republican party line. but another line is now coinciding with it. and we heard last night on fox, as the new

and ginni thomas. when you take everything we have learned about clarence thomas the past month, the luxury vacations with harlan crow, crow buying thomas' mother's house from the justice and his family, paying the private school tuition of his grandnephew, and now this payment to his wife -- what is the significance of all of this? why should people be concerned about this? >> i think we are in a moment of great scrutiny on the court and on potential conflicts of interest, and the reason that matters is because if people don't have confidence the justices are acting on the basis of law rather than some other influence, the court cannot function and our nation depends on people trusting the court in order for a republic to function in the way it is supposed to. >> thank you. >> this has been a week where concerns over the rapidly expanding use of artificial intelligence resonated loudly in washington and around the world. vice president harris met yesterday with top executives from companies leading na

and an oddly honest seeming interview, crow was asked if you would still be friends with thomas if thomas. crow answered, quote, it's an interesting, good question. i don't know how to answer that. maybe not, maybe yes. i don't know. and when asked if he ever considered their friendship to be a quid pro quo, crow did not say no. instead, he replied, quote, every single relationship, maybe his relationship to his mom, has some kind of reciprocity. i have to say, it's a little unclear just who is nursing out who's breast in this -- senator peter welch is a democrat of vermont. he serves on the judiciary committee, called for a code of conduct for supreme court justices in the committee's hearing on tuesday, and he joins me now. senator, do you think these payments should've been disclosed? and do you think they are appropriate? >> i think they should've been disclosed and they are totally inappropriate. i mean, that was a really damning introduction you gave. you know, the supreme court used to be our most respected institution. 20 years ago, two thirds of the american people looked up to.

"the washington post" reports that justice thomas's wife ginni thomas was paid roughly $100,000 by a conservative activist who made sure that ginni's name was not on any of the billing statements. that's not all, we're going to bring you even more reporting on more gifts and perks that clarence thomas took from that billionaire republican donor. wait until you hear what our panelists have to say about all of this. >>> plus, new york city mayor eric adams talking about crime and drugs and the danger to children in his own city. >> 9 and 10-year-olds, our babies are saying i'm feeling depressed. they start their day going to the corner bodega buying cannabis and fentanyl and sit in the classroom and try to learn. they look at tiktok that's teaching them how to steal cars. young boy was burned 85% of his body because he did a tiktok challenge. >> the mayor says more prayer is the answer. we'll discuss that. >>> and why is america losing it? why are we behaving so badly to our fellow humans on airplanes at ball games, when did we lose our common decency? we're going to bring you the stor

piece that while justice thomas did not expose harlan crow's payments he hasn't thomas did disco discloseck in 2002. why the apparent inconsistency on what he is able to report to not report when he gets these financial gaps? >> it is another question that we would love to have a good answer to but justice thomas has not responded to our questions on that. all the ethics lawyers we spoke to said that these two russian payments by harlan crow should have been discussed by justice thomas's annual filing and as you say it is a totally unexplained and disparagement it is a few years earlier justice thomas gave a much smaller gift for the education of the same relative from another friend who is just a random individual not involved in politics like harlan crow >> justin, so far republicans in congress have been saying that the supreme court can police itself but based on what you reporting has been repeatedly uncovering, do you think it is realistic? senator dick durbin has said that quote, the highest court in the land should not have the lowest ethical standards >> yeah under the larger the

, who thomas was racing as his son.he justice did not disclose. leonard leo proactively him scared a $25,000 payment to clarence thomas' wife, ginni thomas, racing the issue of supreme court reform. in the absence of a code, it is said congress should step in. >> i do not see anything wrong with that. congress has ethics laws, rules and regulations it has to abide by in if the supreme court does not. i think it was a missed opportunity by the chief justice to not accept senator durbin's invitation to meet with the committee, talk with the committee so at least through the committee of the american people can understand where the justices are coming from in terms of their resistance to any kind of accountability. as we see story after story, you just catalogued, who knows what republicans will come out with next week. it seems like there is a branch of government that is unaccountable to the american people, to anyone and is actively resisting it. i think the longer they do that, the more popular sentiment will be -- act

and justice thomas for having a rich friend. justice barrett, if you are listening, i hope you don't have library books overdue. if recent history is any indicator, you are next. today's hearing is an excuse to sling more mud at an institution that some, not all, some democrats don't like because they can't control it 100% of the time, and that is a fact, and everybody in his hearing room knows that. until they get the outcome they want in every case, i fear they are going to continue to slander it in an effort to take control of it. and i pray to god i am wrong. thank you, mr. chairman. sen. durbin: thank you, senator kennedy. i will repeat what i said before because it bears repeating -- violence against any public official right or left, democrat, republican, or independent, is unacceptable. we tried in this committee to pass legislation to make that clear. when it comes to the supreme court justices and others, we have an obligation to protect them. and it was attorney general merrick garland who has provided round-the-clock

thomas ws the legal guardian.n payments on his annual disclosures. democrats and republicans in the senate see this development through opposite lenses. >> i hope the chief justice roberts reads this story this morning and understands something has to be done. the reputation of the supreme court is at stake here. >> i know harlan crow, and i know clarence thomas, and they're both honorable men. this is part of a 32-year smear campaign that started with his confirmation hearing. >> reporter: thomas's grandnephew lived with thomas and his wife for a number of years. propublica cited a former administrator at hidden lake academy in georgia and a bank statement for the information on harlan crow's tuition payments to that school for the grandnephew. a friend of the thomases, conservative lawyer mark, said on twitter that crow paid for a year at hidden lake for the then teen and for the first year he spent at another private boarding school. randolph macon academy in virginia. he says thomas never asked crow to pay the

thomas never reports this. 2009.a political nonprofit started by ginni thomas. the money is initially given anonymously. but politico links it to crow in 2011. 2012 -- conservative activist leonard leo instructs kellyanne conway to billet nonprofit group he advises and give ginni thomas another $25,000. he says the paperwork should include no mention of ginni thomas, of course. 2014 -- in thomas sells three pieces of property he co-owners to crow, including his mother's house. despite the law outlining that such real estate sales must be disclosed, thomas does not to do so. my panel is back with me. carol, that was just kind of the timeline we put together. let's start with his letter from harlan crow's attorneys to the senate finance committee this week, where he basically does not want to cooperate. how solid do you think their legal rationale for ignoring the panel's inquiries? this is a senate congressional committee. >> i think ultimately they would win on this front. the weird thing is that, ultimately, that is

this is about applying a double standard to clarence thomas and only clarence thomas.the attack my democrat colleagues breathlessly repeat is clarence thomas stayed at the vacation home of a close friend of his, successful texas businessman, flew on his plane and went on his yacht. if that's the standard going on traveling and being paid for by others please guess what, every supreme court justice has done so and done so in much greater numbers. justice thomas was appointed in 1991. in the time since then he has taken 109 reported trips, five international trips. international trips. justice ginsburg was appointed in 1993, 2 years later. in the time she was on the court she took 157 troops including 28 international trips. yes or no, do you think she was corrupt? >> no. >> nor do i. ruth bader ginsburg was not alone. stephen breyer appointed in 1994 took 233 reported trips including 63 international trips. do you think stephen breyer was co including 63 international trips thinking yes or no do you think stephen breyer was cropped? >> nor do i. >> i would point out jus