Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Friday, Dec 13, 2024

The attorney featured in the painting that shows Clarence Thomas at one of the undisclosed vacations just published an article arguing that the Supreme Court justice did not have to report the trips

The attorney featured in the painting that shows Clarence Thomas at one of the undisclosed vacations just published an article arguing that the Supreme Court justice did not have to report the trips

Mark Paoletta, attorney and friend of Clarence Thomas, argued that recent rule changes show why the justice did not have disclose the trips.

An attorney who is featured in a now-popular painting of Clarence Thomas vacationing at a GOP megadonor's exclusive resort argued that the justice was not legally obligated to disclose any of these trips.

Mark Paoletta, a partner at Schaeer Jaffe and close friend of Thomas, wrote in the right-leaning National Review article published Thursday arguing that Thomas had "acted properly and consistent with the rules" of financial disclosures for Supreme Court Justices. The column was in response to an investigative story from ProPublica which revealed how Thomas had, for years, accepted stays at a luxury resort in upstate New York and chartered flights in private jets — all at the expense of his longtime friend and Republican donor, Harlan Crow.

"This latest effort by the Left has nothing to do with 'ethics.' It has everything to do with trying to destroy the Supreme Court now that there is a working majority of justices moving the Court firmly in an originalist direction," Paoletta wrote, calling the ProPublica story a "hit piece."

Paoletta discloses in the article that he was Thomas's lawyer during the justice's confirmation in 1991, co-edited a book with him, and "remain close friends."

But the attorney is also featured in a painting that was commissioned by Crow and depicts Thomas vacationing at the luxury resort that is central to the renewed scrutiny of Thomas' financial disclosure forms.


 The painting features Thomas smoking a cigar at Camp Topridge, where the artwork also hangs, next to Crow on the far right, according to ProPublica. There are also lawyers Peter Rutledge, Leonard Leo, and, sitting above and in the center of everyone, Paoletta.


Sharif Tarabay, the artist of the painting, told ProPublica that the piece depicts a moment at Topridge from about five years ago. The publication reported that Thomas vacationed at the remote resort almost every summer for more than two decades.

Paoletta did not respond to a request for comment.

Legal experts said Thomas may have violated a law that dictates how judicial officers and employers must report gifts in their financial disclosure forms. Steve Vladeck, a University of Texas School of Law professor, told Insider that the recent string of allegations against Thomas, including a Bloomberg report that revealed that the justice did not recuse himself from an appeals case involving the Crow family business, points to the larger issue of the lack of proper mechanisms to enforce laws that are supposed to hold courts accountable.

In his defense, Paoletta claimed however that recent rule changes regardings gifts that were adopted in March by the Judicial Conference of the United States vindicate Thomas.

Prior to the changes, rules around travel that are considered "personal hospitality" were not explicitly defined, The New York Times reported. The financial disclosure committee of the Judicial Conference added more stipulations last month to include what kinds of gifts need to be disclosed, including travel by private jet and stays at resorts or hotels.

Paoletta's argument appears to hinge on the idea that the lack of clarity around gift disclosures means Thomas "correctly interpreted the rule."

As one of two of his "pieces of evidence," Paoletta cited an exchange between Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island and the Senate Judiciary Committee witness, Kedric Payne, who is the general counsel for the Campaign Legal Center.

Payne said that a justice could "try to" rely on an exemption to disclose personal hospitality gifts because the rules around it are not made clear by the courts.

"Senator Whitehouse and Kedric Payne do not like the way this rule was implemented. But that is immaterial to the conclusion that Justice Thomas had no obligation to disclose these innocuous trips," Paoletta wrote. "The simple fact is that this was permissible."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×