(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Face-Off: Ginni Thomas J6 Texts versus the ProPublica Yacht Life Story [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-04-06 Just a couple of regular folks who prefer to vacation at RV parks. The news about Clarence Thomas and the Billionaire (ProPublica, April 6, 2023) — the revelation that a right-wing billionaire named Harlan Crow has for years been providing Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas free air and yacht travel and gifts and private resort vacations, virtually none of it disclosed by the justice on required financial disclosure forms — somehow got me thinking of Mrs. Thomas. Like her husband, Ginni Thomas didn’t disclose her own scandalous activity — her efforts to overturn the 2020 election — and left it to the press and the January 6 Committee to bring it to light [ J6 Committee Has Ginni Thomas/Mark Meadows Texts (CNN 3/25/22) .] Because those texts of Ginni Thomas are known for their color and fervor, I thought I’d compare selections from the Ginni Thomas text treasury with selections from the just-the-facts-ma’am ProPublica article. Ginni Thomas text to Mark Meadows, 11/10/2020: “Help This Great President stand firm, Mark!!! … You are the leader, with him, who is standing for America’s constitutional governance at the precipice. The majority knows Biden and the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History,” Thomas wrote on November 10, 2020. the Left is attempting the greatest Heist of our History From the ProPublica article: For more than two decades, [Justice Clarence] Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman [Harlan Crow] without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks. The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court. Ginni Thomas text: On November 24, 2020 she wrote: “I can’t see Americans swallowing the obvious fraud. Just going with one more thing with no frickin consequences… the whole coup and now this… we just cave to people wanting Biden to be anointed? Many of us can’t continue the GOP charade.” one more thing with no frickin consequences From the ProPublica article: There are few restrictions on what gifts justices can accept. That’s in contrast to the other branches of government. Members of Congress are generally prohibited from taking gifts worth $50 or more and would need pre-approval from an ethics committee to take many of the trips Thomas has accepted from Crow. Thomas’ approach to ethics has already attracted public attention. Last year, Thomas didn’t recuse himself from cases that touched on the involvement of his wife, Ginni, in efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. While his decision generated outcry, it could not be appealed. Less cynically: Laura Clawson has a front page post about the ethics and disclosure rules that actually apply to Clarence Thomas in this situation, and the ProPublica article cites experts about those rules. Back to the Ginni Thomas texts: Thomas wrote to Meadows on November 19, 2020, “Sounds like Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud. Make a plan. Release the Kraken and save us from the left taking America down.” Attorney Sidney Powell, who worked on Trump-aligned lawsuits seeking to challenge the results of the 2020 election, was also referred to by herself as “The Kraken” in reference to the ancient mythological sea creature. Sidney and her team are getting inundated with evidence of fraud ProPublica, with the shoe leather and the receipts: The Indonesia vacation wasn’t Thomas’ first time on the Michaela Rose. He went on a river day trip around Savannah, Georgia, and an extended cruise in New Zealand roughly a decade ago. During a New Zealand trip on Crow’s yacht, Thomas signed a copy of his memoir and gave it to a yacht worker. [Photo] Credit:Obtained by ProPublica As a token of his appreciation, he gave one yacht worker a copy of his memoir. Thomas signed the book: “Thank you so much for all your hard work on our New Zealand adventure.” Crow’s policy was that guests didn’t pay, former Michaela Rose staff said. “You don’t need to worry about this — it’s all covered,” one recalled the guests being told. There’s evidence Thomas has taken even more trips on the superyacht. Crow often gave his guests custom polo shirts commemorating their vacations, according to staff. ProPublica found photographs of Thomas wearing at least two of those shirts. In one, he wears a blue polo shirt embroidered with the Michaela Rose’s logo and the words “March 2007” and “Greek Islands.” Finally, the couple’s comment on the text story in 2022: Clarence Thomas and Ginni Thomas declined to answer questions from CNN on Friday. “No, thank you,” said Clarence Thomas, dressed in a blue button-down shirt and standing inside his garage, when CNN asked to speak with him. Ginni Thomas walked away without commenting. And the justice’s response to ProPublica’s inquiries: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/6/2162577/-Face-Off-Ginni-Thomas-J6-Texts-versus-the-ProPublica-Yacht-Life-Story Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/