MSNBC legal analyst Barbara McQuade joined Ana Cabrera Reports on Thursday to discuss the latest ginned up controversy surrounding Justice Clarence Thomas where she demanded that he either resign or be impeached despite admitting there “does not appear that there is any evidence that” Thomas’s friend Harlan Crow has influenced any of his decisions.
Cabrera asked McQuade why Thomas would disclose a gift from one friend for his great nephew’s tuition, but not Crow, “Why report one but not the other? What does that indicate to you?”
Speaking with a great amount of faux solemnity, McQuade claimed, “This is a bright red flag. This is, along with all of the other episodes of receiving funds from Harlan Crow, the kind of conflict of interest that just cannot stand on our Supreme Court. It is very suspicious, I think, that he would report one and not the other. It seems that this is an effort to conceal the ties to Harlan Crow.”
It was easy to see that despite her serious tone, McQuade was being quite unserious as she admitted, “It does not appear that there is any evidence that Justice Thomas made any decisions directly advancing the interests of Harlan Crow.”
That should’ve been the end of the conversation, but McQuade continued:
But that's not the point. This is a conflict of interest. This shows that Justice Thomas is owned by another person. These are the kinds of things that would completely bar someone from getting a security clearance in other branches of government because it would suggest that person is beholden to another, could be blackmailed by another, and owes another, and the idea that a sitting justice of the Supreme Court is taking this kind of money from another person is just untenable.
McQuade then reached for an historical comparison, “Abe Fortas resigned from the Court over far less than this, and I think it's time that Justice Thomas do the same.”
That’s a ridiculous statement. According to National Review, Fortas accepted money from a man who was in trouble with the feds--Crow is not—and was ultimately convicted of securities fraud. Worse, Fortas was giving legal advice to President Lyndon Johnson while sitting on the bench.
Unwittingly admitting that it is not the quality of the charges, but the quantity, Cabrera then asked “There has just been this drip, drip, drip from Josh and his team from ProPublica reporting on Thomas. He's repeatedly been able to brush off these accusations. His fellow justices haven't taken any action to hold him to account, but when do you think that drip, drip, drip becomes a flood that the justice can no longer ignore?”
The former Obama-appointed U.S. Attorney responded by claiming that, “I'm already there. I was there last time. This one is just really the straw that breaks the camel's back. If you are Chief Justice John Roberts, you have to have a conversation with Justice Thomas. He is ruining it for all of the rest of them. You know that phrase, this is why we can't have nice things.”
That is impossible to take seriously considering the attacks on Roberts and his wife, yet McQuade added “I think that members of Congress are absolutely within their right to demand answers to questions, and if he continues to stonewall, if he continues to refuse to resign, I think there's potentially grounds for impeachment for this failure of disclosure.”
That’s what this is really about. Not tuition payments, but removing one vote from the conservative bloc.
This segment was sponsored by Consumer Cellular.
Here is a transcript for the May 4 show:
MSNBC Ana Cabrera Reports
5/4/2023
10:17 AM ET
ANA CABRERA: What do you think, Barbara? Why report one but not the other? What does that indicate to you?
BARBARA MCQUADE: This is a bright red flag. This is, along with all of the other episodes of receiving funds from Harlan Crow, the kind of conflict of interest that just cannot stand on our Supreme Court. It is very suspicious, I think, that he would report one and not the other. It seems that this is an effort to conceal the ties to Harlan Crow.
It does not appear that there is any evidence that Justice Thomas made any decisions directly advancing the interests of Harlan Crow, but that's not the point. This is a conflict of interest. This shows that Justice Thomas is owned by another person. These are the kinds of things that would completely bar someone from getting a security clearance in other branches of government because it would suggest that person is beholden to another, could be blackmailed by another, and owes another, and the idea that a sitting justice of the Supreme Court is taking this kind of money from another person is just untenable.
Abe Fortas resigned from the Court over far less than this, and I think it's time that Justice Thomas do the same.
CABRERA: There has just been this drip, drip, drip from Josh and his team from ProPublica reporting on Thomas. He's repeatedly been able to brush off these accusations. His fellow justices haven't taken any action to hold him to account, but when do you think that drip, drip, drip becomes a flood that the justice can no longer ignore?
MCQUADE: I'm already there. I was there last time. This one is just really the straw that breaks the camel's back. If you are Chief Justice John Roberts, you have to have a conversation with Justice Thomas. He is ruining it for all of the rest of them. You know that phrase, this is why we can't have nice things.
To the extent there was any pushback about an ethics code for Supreme Court justices, this is going to really give fuel to the argument that there absolutely must be a code of conduct and Justice Thomas has violated any ethical code that could exist. I think that members of Congress are absolutely within their right to demand answers to questions, and if he continues to stonewall, if he continues to refuse to resign, I think there's potentially grounds for impeachment for this failure of disclosure.
