Sen. Mike Lee defends Clarence Thomas amid ethics scandal, calls justice a ‘hero’

FILE - Members of the Supreme Court pose for a group portrait following the addition of Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, at the Supreme Court building in Washington, Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Bottom row, from left, Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts, Justice Samuel Alito, and Justice Elena Kagan. Top row, from left, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson | Photo by J. Scott Applewhite, The Associated Press, St. George News

WASHINGTON — Utah Sen. Mike Lee has repeatedly taken to Twitter to defend Clarence Thomas, calling the embattled U.S. Supreme Court justice a “hero who did nothing wrong” over the weekend.

Thomas has been at the center of a national discussion around Supreme Court ethics, after ProPublica reported that the justice failed to report receiving lavish trips from Texas billionaire Harlan Crow — a conservative megadonor — for more than two decades.

Legal experts told ProPublica Thomas should have disclosed the trips, under a law passed after Watergate that requires justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts they receive. In a statement, Crow said he’d extended “hospitality” to Thomas and his wife, but the justice never asked for it and it was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.”

Crow called the trips “gatherings of friends,” and said he’s “unaware of any of our friends ever lobbying or seeking to influence Justice Thomas on any case.”

Read the full story here: KSL News.

Written by BRIDGER BEAL-CVETKO, KSL.com.

Free News Delivery by Email

Would you like to have the day's news stories delivered right to your inbox every evening? Enter your email below to start!