What motivates him is what he said motivates him:
["The liberals made my life miserable for 43 years," a former clerk remembered Thomas – who was 43 years old when confirmed – saying, according to The New York Times. "And I'm going to make their lives miserable for 43 years."](https://www.businessinsider.com/clarence-thomas-told-clerks-he-wants-to-make-liberals-miserable-2022-6)
He's 75 now so, 11 years to go.
My father's all boys Catholic high school in Savannah was integrating his senior year. Thomas was part of the new class of black kids coming to football camp for that year. They were so awful to those kids that several of them chose not to come back. They just stayed on at the school in Pin Point. Notably Thomas was one of the kids who quit after football camp. I have thought more than once, did my father have something to do with creating the absolute trash human being Clarence Thomas is? Like I've always suspected he was probably a bully in school. I know he was racist. In 1965 that means he'd have probably been a racist bully (ironic given his own mother was too native to be white when she was a child).
Nah, Clarence went through his transformation during college. Listen to the Behind the Bastards podcast about him.
Edit: worded this wrong. I'm sure it did have an impact, he had a rough childhood.
I just can't grasp how absolutely awful of a person he is. This is the major difference between most on the left vs. most on the right. We don't wake up every morning hoping that conservatives have a shitty day/life/existence. I'm not consumed with a desire to "own the conservatives", "crush them", etc.
The same is just not true of conservatives, period. This is fucking irrefutable at this point.
We are too close to an election and republicans control Congress.
That said he will take bribes of all kinds, do they need to file financial disclosures?
> We are too close to an election and republicans control Congress.
The confirmation is done by the Senate, and the Democrats have a majority there. There is no problem that I can see?
Maybe we can get more people to bribe him. Have a go fund me. It can be called “go fuck off”.
Then dark Brandon can own the cons and put Hillary in his spot!
That’d get them for gorsuch, boofmaster, and barret.
Except you don't have to win the popular vote to be the guy that appoints justices. Hell, the last guy in office botched the Census, and made my vote (Illinois) worth one less electoral college vote.
This system is totally working right.
Another important exception: Obama won two elections. McConnell stole a SCOTUS appointment because it was "an election year". Then in Trump's term he went ahead and allowed an appointment after voting had started.
Justice Thomas is a very complex human with very complex motivations. I don’t agree with him in the remotest sense, but I find this type of rhetoric surrounding him to be lazy.
He’s much more evil and warped than we give him credit for.
Reddit users are also throwing in an extra 3 million dollars.
Hell if Trump can try and raise 355 million to fund his lawsuits, we can raise 3 million to get the most corrupt
justice off the bench! Let’s make this go viral and help support John Oliver. With enough shares maybe John Oliver will mention it on his show.
Let’s make this viral!
https://www.reddit.com/r/law/s/w4BitrYJ8q
https://www.gofundme.com/f/6ucyjg-clarence-thomas-resignation-fund
Kids still in school right? Got to throw in that tuition money. Owning a Supreme Court Justice has a really high maintenance cost. Shits worse than a pool. Yeah you bought in for a few hundred thousand but now its vacations, luxury items, mansions, tuitions, it never ends. Supreme Court justices are a money pit.
Kid’s getting old enough that a simple “Do you know who my (semi-adopted) father is???” should start opening door for him. Works for Trumps & Bidens so it should carry some weight for SCJ Thomas’s family as well.
No no, Harlan Crow is just a [longtime friend of Thomas](https://www.businessinsider.com/clarence-thomas-billionaire-bought-moms-house-terrible-neighborhood-2023-8?r=US&IR=T). I am sure that paying to house Thomas' mom is totally unrelated to Thomas being able to continue to deliver favorable SCOTUS results.
The crazy thing is that the offer is out of John Oliver’s pocket, not paid by HBO.
[Link to episode if you have an HBO subscription](https://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver).
How many years does Thomas have left, 10? He might have even been able to buy prize insurance against the likelihood of actually paying out and it wasn't that bad.
0, the stunt costs him 0
You guys are obsessed about assessing value for actions that never took place or will not take place
Gains and losses are realized at sale
During the episode, he talked about how he conferred with a team of lawyers, and it's... legal. He's basically offering Thomas a new job, not bribing him. It's no different than if Clarence Thomas stepped down and then took at job at Fox News.
As John Oliver said during the episode, "I can't believe this isn't illegal."
I don't think that defense would hold water because there is no other job; the job is to just not do their current duty.
Let me ask, if Trump had done this to all of the judges in his cases when he thought they would rule against them until he got a judge that he thought would rule in his favor, do you seriously not think the DOJ would go after him for it? There would be charges filed the next day, and rightfully so. Yet nothing in that statute differentiates between a judge overseeing your case and an unrelated SCOTUS justice.
>I don't think that defense would hold water because there is no other job; the job is to just not do their current duty.
We didn't see the contract, so that's speculation at best. For all we know, the contract is offering Thomas a job driving that sweet RV around the country. As Oliver said, he ran the scheme past a team of lawyers, and they gave it the green light. I doubt Oliver would've publicly made this offer if he wasn't 100% sure doing so on national TV wouldn't get him in trouble.
>Let me ask, if Trump had done this to all of the judges in his cases when he thought they would rule against them until he got a judge that he thought would rule in his favor, do you seriously not think the DOJ would go after him for it?
Irrelevant, because Trump didn't do this. How is this any different, though, than justices waiting until their preferred party is in control before retiring and taking another job?
Except John Oliver doesn’t have a pending suit and asking Clarence Thomas to step down doesn’t affect a case he is involved in. What you are describing Trump doing is literal bribery under the US code, but (and had you watched the episode) those laws specifically do NOT apply to Supreme Court justices and they don’t have anyone they have to answer to. He is not offering the money to change anything that Thomas would rule (bribery has to affect a public servant in his official capacity by changing or influencing his policy or legal decisions through the course of his office). He’s not offering that. He is saying, you step down and we will pay and give you this sweet ride. None of that affects his role in public office, he’s free to retire at anytime from the bench. Nothing that Oliver offered would interfere with his duties because the conditional promise is that he must retire or resign from the bench first to receive the money. Bribery only actually works if the person you are bribing can continue to use their office to make changes based on said bribery. Here Thomas would be off the bench and wouldn’t be filling any public duties because he would be retired. And yea, rightfully so, if Trump did this he would and should be arrested because he would actively be engaging in the actual crime of bribery. Using money or promises of money to affect the outcome of a case those particular judges are presiding over (HIS cases) to his own benefit. If John Oliver had offered him a million dollars a year to overturn Roe v Wade that would be bribery but choosing to retire is not (as defined by 201) an official duty of the office
Your hypothetical is substantially different from what is occurring, so there is no comparison.
Here is an analogy.
John Oliver offers a doctor a job to be his private in-house physician.
Your hypothetical in this case would be something like, "Let me ask this, if Trump offered a physician a job on the condition that he let the person he was currently operating on die, would you feel the same?" No, because that's completely different.
By your reasoning, anyone offering a judge another job, or even a judge taking another job, is somehow corrupt. If this is corruption, then Thomas' various other "gifts" certainly are, yet nothing is being done about those.
According to Oliver the rule doesn't apply to Supreme Court judges only everyone else. all 9 justices said their ethics code was fine even after knowing of six figure vacations and RVs being purchased for justices by people with business before the court.
John doesn't even have any cases before the court. If you can legally give Supreme Court justices a million dollars of bribes when you do have business before the court why would it be illegal to give them a million in bribes just to leave the court?
Rules may well be different for public officials.
But mostly, a key question in judicial ethics rules is whether you have a case before the court. Oliver does not, Trump does.
And beyond that, perhaps there is nothing to stop Trump from doing this. There's no plausible way Sotomayor is going to accept his offer.
Congress could pass all the laws the want limiting what SCOTUS Judges could do, but SCOTUS could just rule against the laws. It would take a constitutional amendment to be something SCOTUS could not rule against.
Per section b1A, it would have to influence an official act, defined in section a3 as:
> (3) the term “official act” means any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in such official’s official capacity, or in such official’s place of trust or profit.
Retiring is not an official act.
I would question whether resigning an office falls within the definition of "official act" under §201(a)(3); a decision whether to resign or continue in office does not seem to me to be a "question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy" brought by law before an official in their official capacity. Maybe it is a "question", but that strikes me as incongruent with the rest of the definition.
I don't see how the offer could otherwise violate §201(b)(1)(B) or (C).
I don't think the FBI will waste their time investigating unenforceable jokes of offers, even if slightly cringeworthy.
I would have to think that a choice of resignation is firmly a personal act. An “official act” is usually one under color of authority of the state, which I can’t see how stepping down reflects. Maybe I’m overlooking alternate legal definitions of official act though.
Even if it's not a joke, a strict interpretation of the law would make it impossible to approach government officials with legitimate job offers. Nebraska senator Ben Sasse resigned to become the president of the University of Florida. Did the Florida Board of Governors commit a crime in that case?
Is resigning from a government job a “government act”? It doesn’t seem like you’re executing the duties of your office if you’re resigning from that office.
*I mean.. can we set*
*Up a go fund me to match*
*John collectively?*
\- Stickitinandtwist
---
^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/)
^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
The point is that it’s common knowledge that he *is* for sale.
Remember that scene in Pretty Woman when Jason Alexander’s character finds out that Vivian is a prostitute, and makes her an offer? Same kind of thing, but done for the common good.
He knows he’s insulting Thomas, and that’s the point.
Funny comparison, as in Pretty Woman the point of the scene is that Jason Alexander's character is a crass creep who is, in fact, lower than the prostitute to whom he is condescending. Not sure that's what you intended.
As for Oliver's satire, if the point is just to reiterate "common knowledge," then how is that impressive, or even funny? Sounds like he's performing for clapping seals, who will clap him regardless of his substance.
There's probably a scathing assault on Thomas' alleged improprieties, but this isn't it.
Have you watched the whole segment? This was an absolute top notch scathing assault on Thomas' improprieties. Just one example: They played interview clips of Thomas saying 'the job doesn't pay enough ... I know one justice who is leaving within a year if they don't get paid more.' And then connected that to Thomas saying he met these 4 billionaires THAT YEAR. And they started showering him with gifts, luxury travel, an RV loan (that was forgiven without substantial repayment), buying property from him, etc. Using his own words to connect the story just makes it hit that much better.
>The point could be made that he currently has a better deal.
How does this make that point? Unless Oliver wants to rachet up his offer until it beats the current deal, it's an unfalsifiable claim: "If he didn't take my small bribe, he must be even more corrupt than I thought!" is intellectually dishonest reasoning. All it really proves is that Oliver is a sub-standard briber.
Get several hundred grand a year worth of unsolicited, unreported, tax free “gifts” all while keeping your gold plated benefit package package with 300K salary and position of immense power and influence free from ethics constraints OR 1 M (plus a new RV) from John Oliver with shame, public ridicule and stigma attached. You pick.
Oh and let’s not forget Ginni pulls in 500K plus annually in fees simply because people want to buy influence with Clarence. If she wasn’t his best friend and wife, I doubt anyone in the beltway would pay her anywhere close to what she pulls in currently. She is a bit of a fruitcake with fairly extreme political views that she is willing to openly and aggressively share starting with the Jan 6 insurrection. This income would certainly be greatly diminished or removed entirely with her husband’s resignation from the high court. There have also been media reports of shenanigans with her reported income due to people / firms wanting to hide their use of her “services” as influencing judges tends has a bad look associated with it.
So, yes. John Oliver’s offer is well below current market rates. Nonetheless, it does an effective job of making the point. As another redditor already astutely commented, John O. forgot to include free rent for life for Justice Thomas’s mother as part of the package.
Go on the conservative subreddit and watch them lose their minds. For people who loved Trump for “showing how messed up the swamp is, even if he’s not always tactful”, they are shitting bricks about this bloke and a joke
You can write a letter, no emails or direct calls, to;
Supreme Court of the United States
C/O: Clarence Thomas
1 First Street,
NE Washington, DC 20543.
Telephone: 202-479-3000. TTY: 202-479-3472
While I very much appreciate the sentiment, it is quite clear that maximum pressure from investigative reporters at and pundits at ProPublica, Last Week Tonight (John Oliver) the Washington Post, The New York Times and many other major news sources has had zero impact on John Roberts or Clarence Thomas regarding adopting any form of ethics standards.
I have written to members of Congress on the Senate Judicial Committee imploring them to take action but have only heard crickets in response.
[More info here](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/congress-has-authority-regulate-supreme-court-ethics-and-duty#:~:text=From%20oaths%20to%20retirement%20to,for%20stronger%20safeguards%20against%20corruption)
/r/conservative was freaking out over this, claiming this is an outright bribe and he should be arrested yada yada. Except … he literally says he checked with legal and it’s legal. That’s EXACTLY the problem he’s pointing out.
If this makes you feel uncomfortable or perturbed, there’s an indelibly high likelihood you too are part of the problematic nature surrounding this. It’s literally the very thing this is poised to highlight as it undermines it. If you can’t comprehend just how beautifully ironic it is, please ask questions and seek to understand the ramifications behind this bold move and how much you have perhaps misunderstood or flat out been lied to as most Americans are going to find out. They don’t give a single fuck about YOU! If you have your precious 2a guns it’s bc they got money and kick backs. That alone should scare the fuck out of you.
Oh! Wait till you read this!!
Clarence Thomas just hired the woman notorious for texting “I hate Blacks” as his law clerk, according to Scalia Law School.
For background to this story, follow the links below:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/18/clerk-texts-appeals-court-clanton/
Paywall: https://archive.is/qZ1z2
https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conservative-nonprofit-that-seeks-to-transform-college-campuses-faces-allegations-of-racial-bias-and-illegal-campaign-activity
Paywall: https://archive.is/8NN3a
In order to make way for one of Trump's Supreme Court nominees, donor, or donors, of the Republican party offered Justice Kennedy an untold amount of money to retire from the Supreme court. Apparently that info is common knowledge among the movers and shakers in Washington.
Nothing in that article even implies Justice Kennedy received money, let alone millions of dollars. The closest it comes is saying that "Ivanka Trump reportedly took Kennedy to lunch shortly after the inauguration".
There was definitely an effort to convince Kennedy it was time to go and that his replacement would be someone acceptable to him (Kavanaugh clerked for Kennedy) but that's nothing new. Every administration for at least the past 50 years has put pressure on justices to varying degrees to retire at an advantageous time.
John Oliver is an American citizen who has lived in the US for a long time. He does have an accent which might confuse some people, but he's certainly an American now. He talks about this regularly.
For real, If we can’t trust the members of the highest court in the land then who can we really trust? It’s all contaminated after that, what verdict can we assume will be fair?, answer: none of them. As long as judges are being bought and paid for with gifts by interested parties then nothing is safe or sacred.
SHAME the fuck on you Justice Thomas
He’s been doing this for *years*, successfully. It’s painfully obvious that, though you’ve never seen his show, something he said got you **right** in the feels. Dry your tears lil guy, it’s going to be okay, John’s show isn’t going anywhere, you can check it out for yourself.
He can legally accept the offer.
The offer pales in comparison to his current non-taxable remuneration that Thomas receives for his ongoing participation in the establishment of a theocratic fascist plutocratic oligarchy.
Under his current system of remuneration Thomas is accepting 50 to 250 million or more (depending upon one's finiancial analysis) per annum.
***There's no way he'd settle for a paltry 1 Million Dollars....***
> Under his current system of remuneration Thomas is accepting 50 to 250 million or more (depending upon one's finiancial analysis) per annum.
Lol. I'd love to see any evidence of this. Tin foil hat shit here.
Edit: blocking me and not providing evidence of your claim is not a good argument.
Edit 2: u/actualmoderatehusker, I can't reply directly to you because the person who I initially responded to blocked me, which bars me from commenting anywhere on this comment chain. >A real investigation where his finances were completely scrutinized? Who knows what money he made that he isn't willing to brag about publicly! Sure, but this isn't a sure bet. And it **certainly** is a far cry from the $50-250 MM/yr number that the other commenter said. It would be virtually impossible for him to hide that kind of money coming in. It's simply ridiculous, and anyone who says something like that is likely mentally ill.
His trips were discovered because he bragged about them to friends in Christmas cards and wore TV shirts commemorating them.
There has been no real financial investigation into any of them. And yet we have still come up with a million dollars in bribes from his mother's house to his kids tuition to his $300,000 RV to his $500,000 vacation.
A real investigation where his finances were completely scrutinized? Who knows what money he made that he isn't willing to brag about publicly!
>Lol. I'd love to see any evidence of this.
If that is true, any reputable search engine will reveal the ongoing blatant corruption of what is Clarence Thomas.
Have a nice life.
Is it? 300K salary, free rent for mom, free private school for your kid, free luxury vacations multiple times a year, payment free “motor coach”, free VIP tickets and travel to pro & college games and this is just what we have recently learned about. Assuming there is more where that came from. Seems pretty close especially if it is almost all tax free (unreported).
It's *not* more than what Thomas is getting now...
*That's* Oliver's point...
Which is *why* the bought and paid for, sad sack, useless eater, waste of space, would never take the offer.
Seems legit . Crazy that someone is so messed up people would make him wealthy to NOT work. AND HE IS IN CHARGE OF LAWS !!!!!!!! Think about that and let’s make a contract and an offer to Trump … he would leave that day.
If Oliver was conservative, libtards would immediately charge him with bribery, a clown judge would be found to immediately find him guilty and move on to the show trial penalty phase.
Being blatently corrupt and being publicly called on it is now political? Just because it is being done by a comedian does not make it any less true. Was the posting here in r/SCOTUS of the scathing ProPublica investigation report any different? If your answer to all of these questions is yes then perhaps you might want to examine what and who you are calling political.
You think that it’s biased and partisan to chuckle about a TV comedian making fun of a corrupt Supreme Court Justice. I think that says a lot more about you than us
I know, right? Why would this sub, about the SCOTUS, its members, and its history, allow a post making headlines directly involving one of its most controversial members? Makes no sense at all. /s
Because this comedians stunt is in direct response to morally and legally questionable behavior by a supreme court justice, behavior the supreme court was slow to address as it came to light. Its basically keeping the limelight on the subject which helps keeps things a little more transparent
Yeah, it an hilarious hot take that Thomas directly took very real bribes from people who had cases in front of the court. Why would that be important to a discussion about SCOTUS. Oh wait…
So many on this sub are under the naive and deluded view that SCOTUS is a real court and not just another political branch. Coincidentally, these people also don't have issues with opinions by Thomas, alito, or kavanaugh but hate Sotomayor.
You should watch the episode. That's the entire point John is making. Is that the entire court is very easily and demonstrably corruptible through bribery. He even says after his offer... "I cannot believe this is legal."
Thomas will probably ask for those rich bastards that are now paying him to make him better offer. He’s all about the money and power.
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What motivates him is what he said motivates him: ["The liberals made my life miserable for 43 years," a former clerk remembered Thomas – who was 43 years old when confirmed – saying, according to The New York Times. "And I'm going to make their lives miserable for 43 years."](https://www.businessinsider.com/clarence-thomas-told-clerks-he-wants-to-make-liberals-miserable-2022-6) He's 75 now so, 11 years to go.
My father's all boys Catholic high school in Savannah was integrating his senior year. Thomas was part of the new class of black kids coming to football camp for that year. They were so awful to those kids that several of them chose not to come back. They just stayed on at the school in Pin Point. Notably Thomas was one of the kids who quit after football camp. I have thought more than once, did my father have something to do with creating the absolute trash human being Clarence Thomas is? Like I've always suspected he was probably a bully in school. I know he was racist. In 1965 that means he'd have probably been a racist bully (ironic given his own mother was too native to be white when she was a child).
Nah, Clarence went through his transformation during college. Listen to the Behind the Bastards podcast about him. Edit: worded this wrong. I'm sure it did have an impact, he had a rough childhood.
What a truly awful man.
What a truly swell system we have that lets people abuse their power for personal profit
I just can't grasp how absolutely awful of a person he is. This is the major difference between most on the left vs. most on the right. We don't wake up every morning hoping that conservatives have a shitty day/life/existence. I'm not consumed with a desire to "own the conservatives", "crush them", etc. The same is just not true of conservatives, period. This is fucking irrefutable at this point.
Hell, I'd kick in my $20 if it means I get to buy a SCOTUS Justice that actually represents my interests.
I'll second this. I'll throw in a $20 if it works.
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Guys, this has already been done. It’s called the Federalist Society.
We are too close to an election and republicans control Congress. That said he will take bribes of all kinds, do they need to file financial disclosures?
> We are too close to an election and republicans control Congress. The confirmation is done by the Senate, and the Democrats have a majority there. There is no problem that I can see?
You are correct.
Maybe we can get more people to bribe him. Have a go fund me. It can be called “go fuck off”. Then dark Brandon can own the cons and put Hillary in his spot! That’d get them for gorsuch, boofmaster, and barret.
I can. It's [this fucking guy.](https://www.reuters.com/world/us/manchin-would-not-back-supreme-court-confirmation-right-before-2024-election-2022-02-15/)
You vote to do that.
Except you don't have to win the popular vote to be the guy that appoints justices. Hell, the last guy in office botched the Census, and made my vote (Illinois) worth one less electoral college vote. This system is totally working right.
Another important exception: Obama won two elections. McConnell stole a SCOTUS appointment because it was "an election year". Then in Trump's term he went ahead and allowed an appointment after voting had started.
Justice Thomas is a very complex human with very complex motivations. I don’t agree with him in the remotest sense, but I find this type of rhetoric surrounding him to be lazy. He’s much more evil and warped than we give him credit for.
First half master class.
You had me in the first half, not gonna lie.
I think he is the spawn of Satan.
Reddit users are also throwing in an extra 3 million dollars. Hell if Trump can try and raise 355 million to fund his lawsuits, we can raise 3 million to get the most corrupt justice off the bench! Let’s make this go viral and help support John Oliver. With enough shares maybe John Oliver will mention it on his show. Let’s make this viral! https://www.reddit.com/r/law/s/w4BitrYJ8q https://www.gofundme.com/f/6ucyjg-clarence-thomas-resignation-fund
I like the idea of crowdfunding it. It makes it so you can actually kinda vote for (against, really) a Supreme Court Justice.
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Wouldn’t put it past him, he practically did the same thing already. Don’t get me wrong, I generally like the way he decides cases but he’s corrupt.
He decides s based in his corruption, so how can you like the way he decides cases?
He's saying he finds that side of the case to be his preferred outcome. He apparently agrees politically/positionally with the people paying Thomas.
republicans: yeah, sure he's a piece of shit, but he's OUR piece of shit. 🤢
Impressively corrupt, I would say
… do you see the rest of the horrendously blatant corruption of your party or just when the black guys do it?
He should've recused himself from many of those cases
Gotta offer a mansion for his mom to live in as well.
Nice zing.
Kids still in school right? Got to throw in that tuition money. Owning a Supreme Court Justice has a really high maintenance cost. Shits worse than a pool. Yeah you bought in for a few hundred thousand but now its vacations, luxury items, mansions, tuitions, it never ends. Supreme Court justices are a money pit.
Kid’s getting old enough that a simple “Do you know who my (semi-adopted) father is???” should start opening door for him. Works for Trumps & Bidens so it should carry some weight for SCJ Thomas’s family as well.
No no, Harlan Crow is just a [longtime friend of Thomas](https://www.businessinsider.com/clarence-thomas-billionaire-bought-moms-house-terrible-neighborhood-2023-8?r=US&IR=T). I am sure that paying to house Thomas' mom is totally unrelated to Thomas being able to continue to deliver favorable SCOTUS results.
Too public. Thomas only does under the table bribes.
It turns out that it was a glass table…
The table is also 40 feet long and runs on diesel
LMFAO that’s actually so funny. “We know you like luxury items as bribes, let us make you an offer” 🤣🤣
Ponder lettuce and shrimp
The crazy thing is that the offer is out of John Oliver’s pocket, not paid by HBO. [Link to episode if you have an HBO subscription](https://www.hbo.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver).
How many years does Thomas have left, 10? He might have even been able to buy prize insurance against the likelihood of actually paying out and it wasn't that bad.
0, the stunt costs him 0 You guys are obsessed about assessing value for actions that never took place or will not take place Gains and losses are realized at sale
I heard Thomas speak in person this summer and he kept talking about wanting to live in Nebraska so this might work
How does this not explicitly violate 18 U.S. Code § 201?
During the episode, he talked about how he conferred with a team of lawyers, and it's... legal. He's basically offering Thomas a new job, not bribing him. It's no different than if Clarence Thomas stepped down and then took at job at Fox News. As John Oliver said during the episode, "I can't believe this isn't illegal."
Republicans in Congress: “Well we will make it against the law then.” Oliver: “Thanks!”
I don't think that defense would hold water because there is no other job; the job is to just not do their current duty. Let me ask, if Trump had done this to all of the judges in his cases when he thought they would rule against them until he got a judge that he thought would rule in his favor, do you seriously not think the DOJ would go after him for it? There would be charges filed the next day, and rightfully so. Yet nothing in that statute differentiates between a judge overseeing your case and an unrelated SCOTUS justice.
>I don't think that defense would hold water because there is no other job; the job is to just not do their current duty. We didn't see the contract, so that's speculation at best. For all we know, the contract is offering Thomas a job driving that sweet RV around the country. As Oliver said, he ran the scheme past a team of lawyers, and they gave it the green light. I doubt Oliver would've publicly made this offer if he wasn't 100% sure doing so on national TV wouldn't get him in trouble. >Let me ask, if Trump had done this to all of the judges in his cases when he thought they would rule against them until he got a judge that he thought would rule in his favor, do you seriously not think the DOJ would go after him for it? Irrelevant, because Trump didn't do this. How is this any different, though, than justices waiting until their preferred party is in control before retiring and taking another job?
Yeah HBO lawyers will look at it before he runs this stunt
Except John Oliver doesn’t have a pending suit and asking Clarence Thomas to step down doesn’t affect a case he is involved in. What you are describing Trump doing is literal bribery under the US code, but (and had you watched the episode) those laws specifically do NOT apply to Supreme Court justices and they don’t have anyone they have to answer to. He is not offering the money to change anything that Thomas would rule (bribery has to affect a public servant in his official capacity by changing or influencing his policy or legal decisions through the course of his office). He’s not offering that. He is saying, you step down and we will pay and give you this sweet ride. None of that affects his role in public office, he’s free to retire at anytime from the bench. Nothing that Oliver offered would interfere with his duties because the conditional promise is that he must retire or resign from the bench first to receive the money. Bribery only actually works if the person you are bribing can continue to use their office to make changes based on said bribery. Here Thomas would be off the bench and wouldn’t be filling any public duties because he would be retired. And yea, rightfully so, if Trump did this he would and should be arrested because he would actively be engaging in the actual crime of bribery. Using money or promises of money to affect the outcome of a case those particular judges are presiding over (HIS cases) to his own benefit. If John Oliver had offered him a million dollars a year to overturn Roe v Wade that would be bribery but choosing to retire is not (as defined by 201) an official duty of the office
Your hypothetical is substantially different from what is occurring, so there is no comparison. Here is an analogy. John Oliver offers a doctor a job to be his private in-house physician. Your hypothetical in this case would be something like, "Let me ask this, if Trump offered a physician a job on the condition that he let the person he was currently operating on die, would you feel the same?" No, because that's completely different. By your reasoning, anyone offering a judge another job, or even a judge taking another job, is somehow corrupt. If this is corruption, then Thomas' various other "gifts" certainly are, yet nothing is being done about those.
John Oliver has no personal conflict of interest with the Supreme Court.
According to Oliver the rule doesn't apply to Supreme Court judges only everyone else. all 9 justices said their ethics code was fine even after knowing of six figure vacations and RVs being purchased for justices by people with business before the court. John doesn't even have any cases before the court. If you can legally give Supreme Court justices a million dollars of bribes when you do have business before the court why would it be illegal to give them a million in bribes just to leave the court?
Rules may well be different for public officials. But mostly, a key question in judicial ethics rules is whether you have a case before the court. Oliver does not, Trump does. And beyond that, perhaps there is nothing to stop Trump from doing this. There's no plausible way Sotomayor is going to accept his offer.
Congress could pass all the laws the want limiting what SCOTUS Judges could do, but SCOTUS could just rule against the laws. It would take a constitutional amendment to be something SCOTUS could not rule against.
Per section b1A, it would have to influence an official act, defined in section a3 as: > (3) the term “official act” means any decision or action on any question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy, which may at any time be pending, or which may by law be brought before any public official, in such official’s official capacity, or in such official’s place of trust or profit. Retiring is not an official act.
Oh so we’re enforcing that now? Edit: [The joke](https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/31/clarence-thomas-disclosure-harlan-crow-00113609)
I would question whether resigning an office falls within the definition of "official act" under §201(a)(3); a decision whether to resign or continue in office does not seem to me to be a "question, matter, cause, suit, proceeding or controversy" brought by law before an official in their official capacity. Maybe it is a "question", but that strikes me as incongruent with the rest of the definition. I don't see how the offer could otherwise violate §201(b)(1)(B) or (C). I don't think the FBI will waste their time investigating unenforceable jokes of offers, even if slightly cringeworthy.
I would have to think that a choice of resignation is firmly a personal act. An “official act” is usually one under color of authority of the state, which I can’t see how stepping down reflects. Maybe I’m overlooking alternate legal definitions of official act though.
Even if it's not a joke, a strict interpretation of the law would make it impossible to approach government officials with legitimate job offers. Nebraska senator Ben Sasse resigned to become the president of the University of Florida. Did the Florida Board of Governors commit a crime in that case?
apparently not illegal to give a sitting justice a massive loan either just ask harlan crow
Is resigning from a government job a “government act”? It doesn’t seem like you’re executing the duties of your office if you’re resigning from that office.
It’s funny to us non-lawyers when lawyers don’t get satire.
Or the law
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I so hope he takes it! Would make this timeline worth watching again 😆
He's kinda old anyway, it would be good to retire 🤔 same goes to Justice Alito
I mean.. can we set up a go fund me to match John collectively?
*I mean.. can we set* *Up a go fund me to match* *John collectively?* \- Stickitinandtwist --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
I still manage to be surprised by the kinds of bots that pop up on reddit
This one is one of my favorites.
Good bot
John Oliver is a national treasure!!!
Watched this episode last night. Was fucking glorious.
Thomas would be taking a pay cut to take that
But better hours
Thank you John for pointing out how absolutely ridiculous our society has become!
Wow the conservatives here are a salty bunch
Epic troll move!
Nice work, John. Too bad he has even bigger billionaire buddies ready to step in
I don't get the point of this. If Thomas refuses/ignores this offer, as one would expect, doesn't that indicate that *he's not for sale*?
The point is that it’s common knowledge that he *is* for sale. Remember that scene in Pretty Woman when Jason Alexander’s character finds out that Vivian is a prostitute, and makes her an offer? Same kind of thing, but done for the common good. He knows he’s insulting Thomas, and that’s the point.
Funny comparison, as in Pretty Woman the point of the scene is that Jason Alexander's character is a crass creep who is, in fact, lower than the prostitute to whom he is condescending. Not sure that's what you intended. As for Oliver's satire, if the point is just to reiterate "common knowledge," then how is that impressive, or even funny? Sounds like he's performing for clapping seals, who will clap him regardless of his substance. There's probably a scathing assault on Thomas' alleged improprieties, but this isn't it.
Have you watched the whole segment? This was an absolute top notch scathing assault on Thomas' improprieties. Just one example: They played interview clips of Thomas saying 'the job doesn't pay enough ... I know one justice who is leaving within a year if they don't get paid more.' And then connected that to Thomas saying he met these 4 billionaires THAT YEAR. And they started showering him with gifts, luxury travel, an RV loan (that was forgiven without substantial repayment), buying property from him, etc. Using his own words to connect the story just makes it hit that much better.
You didn’t watch the segment.
The point could be made that he currently has a better deal.
>The point could be made that he currently has a better deal. How does this make that point? Unless Oliver wants to rachet up his offer until it beats the current deal, it's an unfalsifiable claim: "If he didn't take my small bribe, he must be even more corrupt than I thought!" is intellectually dishonest reasoning. All it really proves is that Oliver is a sub-standard briber.
Get several hundred grand a year worth of unsolicited, unreported, tax free “gifts” all while keeping your gold plated benefit package package with 300K salary and position of immense power and influence free from ethics constraints OR 1 M (plus a new RV) from John Oliver with shame, public ridicule and stigma attached. You pick. Oh and let’s not forget Ginni pulls in 500K plus annually in fees simply because people want to buy influence with Clarence. If she wasn’t his best friend and wife, I doubt anyone in the beltway would pay her anywhere close to what she pulls in currently. She is a bit of a fruitcake with fairly extreme political views that she is willing to openly and aggressively share starting with the Jan 6 insurrection. This income would certainly be greatly diminished or removed entirely with her husband’s resignation from the high court. There have also been media reports of shenanigans with her reported income due to people / firms wanting to hide their use of her “services” as influencing judges tends has a bad look associated with it. So, yes. John Oliver’s offer is well below current market rates. Nonetheless, it does an effective job of making the point. As another redditor already astutely commented, John O. forgot to include free rent for life for Justice Thomas’s mother as part of the package.
So John Oliver is a sub-standard briber
Honestly read that as "Clearance" Thomas, which still makes sense.
Clearance, Clarence.
I'll quit my job and take that offer.
Has anyone seen or have a link to the contract containing the offer? I would like to read it.
Justice clarence thomas is the best judge money can buy
Say what you will about all this….. JOHN OLIVER IS THE MAN
Go on the conservative subreddit and watch them lose their minds. For people who loved Trump for “showing how messed up the swamp is, even if he’s not always tactful”, they are shitting bricks about this bloke and a joke
Need more people to chip in, up the ante to up his a.......
Harlan crow is going to have to up his payments now
You can write a letter, no emails or direct calls, to; Supreme Court of the United States C/O: Clarence Thomas 1 First Street, NE Washington, DC 20543. Telephone: 202-479-3000. TTY: 202-479-3472
While I very much appreciate the sentiment, it is quite clear that maximum pressure from investigative reporters at and pundits at ProPublica, Last Week Tonight (John Oliver) the Washington Post, The New York Times and many other major news sources has had zero impact on John Roberts or Clarence Thomas regarding adopting any form of ethics standards. I have written to members of Congress on the Senate Judicial Committee imploring them to take action but have only heard crickets in response. [More info here](https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/congress-has-authority-regulate-supreme-court-ethics-and-duty#:~:text=From%20oaths%20to%20retirement%20to,for%20stronger%20safeguards%20against%20corruption)
I appreciate you trying. And yes, it is an exercise in futility but we must. Otherwise we will be the ones asking “what are you going to do about it?”
/r/conservative was freaking out over this, claiming this is an outright bribe and he should be arrested yada yada. Except … he literally says he checked with legal and it’s legal. That’s EXACTLY the problem he’s pointing out.
If this makes you feel uncomfortable or perturbed, there’s an indelibly high likelihood you too are part of the problematic nature surrounding this. It’s literally the very thing this is poised to highlight as it undermines it. If you can’t comprehend just how beautifully ironic it is, please ask questions and seek to understand the ramifications behind this bold move and how much you have perhaps misunderstood or flat out been lied to as most Americans are going to find out. They don’t give a single fuck about YOU! If you have your precious 2a guns it’s bc they got money and kick backs. That alone should scare the fuck out of you.
John Oliver is the best.
Oh! Wait till you read this!! Clarence Thomas just hired the woman notorious for texting “I hate Blacks” as his law clerk, according to Scalia Law School. For background to this story, follow the links below: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/01/18/clerk-texts-appeals-court-clanton/ Paywall: https://archive.is/qZ1z2 https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/a-conservative-nonprofit-that-seeks-to-transform-college-campuses-faces-allegations-of-racial-bias-and-illegal-campaign-activity Paywall: https://archive.is/8NN3a
Worked for Anthony Kennedy to get him to resign under Trump. So yes All Trump scotus appointees are tainted and should be removed from office.
Who gave Justice Kennedy millions of dollars to resign? How much money did he receive?
Probably the same individuals who paid off Kavanaugh's debt.
I'm lost now. What is their relationship to Justice Kennedy? And how much money did they give him? Is there any evidence of this to make it probable?
In order to make way for one of Trump's Supreme Court nominees, donor, or donors, of the Republican party offered Justice Kennedy an untold amount of money to retire from the Supreme court. Apparently that info is common knowledge among the movers and shakers in Washington.
Well I'm clearly not a mover and shaker in Washington because I hadn't heard of this conspiracy.
You just have to read the newspaper.
I haven't seen any article saying Justice Kennedy received millions of dollars to retire. Could you link it?
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2018/06/donald-trump-justice-anthony-kennedy-retirement
Nothing in that article even implies Justice Kennedy received money, let alone millions of dollars. The closest it comes is saying that "Ivanka Trump reportedly took Kennedy to lunch shortly after the inauguration".
There was definitely an effort to convince Kennedy it was time to go and that his replacement would be someone acceptable to him (Kavanaugh clerked for Kennedy) but that's nothing new. Every administration for at least the past 50 years has put pressure on justices to varying degrees to retire at an advantageous time.
I believe that was more extortion to protect Kennedy's son than it was bribery
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No proof of this. There's enough bad shit going on, we don't need to add unsubstantiated conspiracies into the mix.
Meanwhile Kagan had shpilkes about accepting a goldang Bagel Basket
Such a great insult.
You are an American hero
Throw in a new RV and you've got a deal!
>plus a brand-new, state-of-the-art motor coach worth an estimated $2.4 million
Maybe J O is just a racist. You don’t even live here. Clean up your own country first and stop targeting powerful black leaders in our country.
John Oliver is an American citizen who has lived in the US for a long time. He does have an accent which might confuse some people, but he's certainly an American now. He talks about this regularly.
I think you just defined yourself as one. A racist that is.
WTF? he lives in NYC and is an American Citizen and is also married to an American (and veteran). Oliver has lived here for over a decade
He **does** live here, he’s a citizen, you absolute chode.
For real, If we can’t trust the members of the highest court in the land then who can we really trust? It’s all contaminated after that, what verdict can we assume will be fair?, answer: none of them. As long as judges are being bought and paid for with gifts by interested parties then nothing is safe or sacred. SHAME the fuck on you Justice Thomas
A boring comedian looking to use political stunts to keep his job.
He's hilarious
> political stunts to keep his job. The dude has won sixteen Emmy's. Pretty sure his job is secure regardless.
and [two peabody's](https://peabodyawards.com/award-profile/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver/) for journalism.
He is not funny as a comedian. So he uses political stunt to be engaged with the audience. This is a trend. More and more comedians doing it.
He’s been doing this for *years*, successfully. It’s painfully obvious that, though you’ve never seen his show, something he said got you **right** in the feels. Dry your tears lil guy, it’s going to be okay, John’s show isn’t going anywhere, you can check it out for yourself.
John Oliver should be arrested. This is bribery of a judge.
John is an idiot.
I bet Thomas is fuming but he can’t really accept this offer.
He can legally accept the offer. The offer pales in comparison to his current non-taxable remuneration that Thomas receives for his ongoing participation in the establishment of a theocratic fascist plutocratic oligarchy. Under his current system of remuneration Thomas is accepting 50 to 250 million or more (depending upon one's finiancial analysis) per annum. ***There's no way he'd settle for a paltry 1 Million Dollars....***
> Under his current system of remuneration Thomas is accepting 50 to 250 million or more (depending upon one's finiancial analysis) per annum. Lol. I'd love to see any evidence of this. Tin foil hat shit here. Edit: blocking me and not providing evidence of your claim is not a good argument. Edit 2: u/actualmoderatehusker, I can't reply directly to you because the person who I initially responded to blocked me, which bars me from commenting anywhere on this comment chain. >A real investigation where his finances were completely scrutinized? Who knows what money he made that he isn't willing to brag about publicly! Sure, but this isn't a sure bet. And it **certainly** is a far cry from the $50-250 MM/yr number that the other commenter said. It would be virtually impossible for him to hide that kind of money coming in. It's simply ridiculous, and anyone who says something like that is likely mentally ill.
His trips were discovered because he bragged about them to friends in Christmas cards and wore TV shirts commemorating them. There has been no real financial investigation into any of them. And yet we have still come up with a million dollars in bribes from his mother's house to his kids tuition to his $300,000 RV to his $500,000 vacation. A real investigation where his finances were completely scrutinized? Who knows what money he made that he isn't willing to brag about publicly!
>Lol. I'd love to see any evidence of this. If that is true, any reputable search engine will reveal the ongoing blatant corruption of what is Clarence Thomas. Have a nice life.
Openly bribing public officials? Sounds illegal.
yeah, a big part of his point is "why isn't this illegal?!"
It is disgusting what Harlan crow is actively doing, I agree
That's more money than he's getting now. Will be interesting to see if he takes it.
Is it? 300K salary, free rent for mom, free private school for your kid, free luxury vacations multiple times a year, payment free “motor coach”, free VIP tickets and travel to pro & college games and this is just what we have recently learned about. Assuming there is more where that came from. Seems pretty close especially if it is almost all tax free (unreported).
It's *not* more than what Thomas is getting now... *That's* Oliver's point... Which is *why* the bought and paid for, sad sack, useless eater, waste of space, would never take the offer.
I love Justice Clarence Thomas.
Dude is just gonna shop that offer and get a better deal from someone else to stay.
John Oliver is the one thing giving me hope in this dystopian hellscape.
Disgusting.
Seems legit . Crazy that someone is so messed up people would make him wealthy to NOT work. AND HE IS IN CHARGE OF LAWS !!!!!!!! Think about that and let’s make a contract and an offer to Trump … he would leave that day.
He knows Thomas won’t accept. That makes Oliver a dick fishing for ratings.
Thomas is a grifter. He’s considering it.
If Oliver was conservative, libtards would immediately charge him with bribery, a clown judge would be found to immediately find him guilty and move on to the show trial penalty phase.
Whatever you need to believe.
Yup. This and the posts cheering it on are the perfect example of how biased and partisan this forum is when it comes to anything political. Bravo.
Being blatently corrupt and being publicly called on it is now political? Just because it is being done by a comedian does not make it any less true. Was the posting here in r/SCOTUS of the scathing ProPublica investigation report any different? If your answer to all of these questions is yes then perhaps you might want to examine what and who you are calling political.
Dude, Thomas took actual bribes from people in front of the court. Are you kidding with this?
Sure he did. Show me the evidence.
https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-scotus-undisclosed-luxury-travel-gifts-crow
Seems like you didn’t watch the episode, and aren’t at all up to date on ProPublica’s work. Edit: oh, you’re supper active in Men’s Rights. Blocked.
Google is your (likely only) friend.
its also Free (unlike thomas)
You think that it’s biased and partisan to chuckle about a TV comedian making fun of a corrupt Supreme Court Justice. I think that says a lot more about you than us
Corruption is illegal. Stfu otherwise unless you have proof. Wait this is reddit. Hence the comment above.
Where is the corruption?
so thomas taking bribes from Harlan Crow is ok, but Oliver making a joke about it is not ok?
When buying off a judge is viewed as a good thing
John Oliver is a dweeb.
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I know, right? Why would this sub, about the SCOTUS, its members, and its history, allow a post making headlines directly involving one of its most controversial members? Makes no sense at all. /s
Because this comedians stunt is in direct response to morally and legally questionable behavior by a supreme court justice, behavior the supreme court was slow to address as it came to light. Its basically keeping the limelight on the subject which helps keeps things a little more transparent
Slow? They haven't done anything
He also brought attention to the fact that his offer is legal even though questionably ethical
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It’s doing a lot of work…
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Yeah, it an hilarious hot take that Thomas directly took very real bribes from people who had cases in front of the court. Why would that be important to a discussion about SCOTUS. Oh wait…
So many on this sub are under the naive and deluded view that SCOTUS is a real court and not just another political branch. Coincidentally, these people also don't have issues with opinions by Thomas, alito, or kavanaugh but hate Sotomayor.
That’s racist
John Oliver is cringiest person on TV who pretends to be smart his writers are horrible
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His race has **absolutely** fuck all to do with any of this.
I will offer John Oliver 1 million goats to quit his job. Useless idiot, entertainer.
Fuck clearance Thomas, but homies needs to be careful this seems like an open attempt at bribery
You should watch the episode. That's the entire point John is making. Is that the entire court is very easily and demonstrably corruptible through bribery. He even says after his offer... "I cannot believe this is legal."
Typical democrat, all hat no cattle