Common Cause questions Justice Thomas over conflict of interest
Common Cause is asking for a thorough accounting of a trip Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas took in January 2008 that could have been grounds for recusal from ruling on the Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission case.
A court spokesperson’s description last month of the trip is “problematic” compared with financial disclosure reports filed by Thomas, the government watchdog group asserted.
“Justice Thomas has acknowledged spending four days in a popular resort area, with his tab covered by Federalist Society. It’s difficult to square such a prolonged stay with what the court now describes as one speech to the Federalists and a ‘drop-by’ at a nearby Koch Industries event,” said Bob Edgar, Common Cause’s president and CEO.
The justices’ association with the Koch events may be grounds for a new hearing in Citizens United, with Thomas and Scalia recused from participation, Common Cause suggested.
The court’s January 2010 decision in Citizens United freed corporations and unions to spend unlimited amounts of money to advocate the election or defeat of political candidates. Koch Industries was a major beneficiary of the decision; the firm, its affiliates and individuals associated with both spent more than $1.8 million on the 2010 mid-term congressional elections. Koch is believed to have invested millions more through non-profit political organizations that sprung up after the decision and do not report their donors.
In a letter sent Monday to William Suter, clerk of the Supreme Court, Edgar and Arn Pearson, Common Cause’s vice president for programs, noted that Koch Industries has been holding closed door, semi-annual political strategy and fundraising sessions in Palm Springs for the past eight years. The meetings typically occur during the last weekend in January, the same time period covered by Justice Thomas’ 2008 trip.
While Koch Industries has described Scalia and Thomas as “featured” guests at the meetings, court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg told the Los Angeles Times last month that neither justice has taken part in the sessions. The justices traveled to California in 2007 and ‘08, respectively, to speak to a Federalist Society dinner hosted by Charles Koch, Koch Industries’ top executive, and Thomas was a “drop-by” at a Koch meeting after his speech, Arberg said.
But Common Cause’s new letter said a review of the Federalist Society’s extensive online archives of its meetings “produces no record of any Federalist Society event in Palm Springs on those dates. When Common Cause called the Federalist Society to inquire further, staff members could not recall any corresponding event,” the letter asserted.
“If Justice Thomas played a larger role than the court has acknowledged in the Koch Industries political ‘seminar,’ it underscores our concern about his participation in the Citizens United case,” Edgar said. “If he delivered just one speech in return for a four-day, cross-country trip, the bulk of his expenses should have been reported as a gift.”
Watch Rachel Maddow discuss this issue on last night’s broadcast (below) with Common Cause President Bob Edgar!
