Mike Pence condemns ‘appalling’ assaults on Justice Clarence Thomas

Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Justice Clarence Thomas in a Saturday twitter thread that blasted accusations of corruption and calls by some Democrats for his resignation from the excessive courtroom.

Mr. Pence, who’s weighing a 2024 White House bid, stated Justice Thomas has been “maliciously attacked by the left, including then Sen. Joe Biden,” since he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991.

Mr. Pence stated the assaults, “are continuing today, and it’s appalling to see.”

Senate Democrats are inspecting new ethics guidelines, and a few have referred to as for Justice Thomas to step down, amid information studies he was gifted lavish holidays and different advantages from Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. 

Another media report discovered Justice Thomas’s spouse, Ginni Thomas, acquired tens of hundreds of {dollars} in consulting charges from conservative judicial advocate Leonard Leo a decade in the past. She was paid previous to Mr. Leo’s nonprofit submitting an amicus temporary in a case pending earlier than the excessive courtroom. 

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, has referred to as on the Justice Department to research Mr. Thomas and a number of other House Democrats have referred to as for his resignation. 

Justice Thomas stated he adopted Supreme Court pointers in all of his monetary disclosures. 

The tales have generated a brand new spherical of protests in entrance of the homes of a number of justices, prompting security considerations and elevating authorized questions.

Protesters within the neighborhoods of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts had been demanding “ethics on the court,” however Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, stated the protesters needs to be arrested beneath a regulation prohibiting demonstrations in entrance of the houses of judges.

“This is a criminal threat to the safety of the Supreme Court,” Mr. Lee stated. “Why are U.S. Marshals being instructed not to make arrests?”

Mr. Pence on Saturday tweeted the quilt of Justice Thomas’s 2008 memoir, “Clarence Thomas: My Grandfather’s Son.” and joined different defenders of Justice Thomas’s ethics.