Left-wing publications, like the New York Times, the Atlantic, and ProPublica, have been engaged in a smear campaign against conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas in recent months — an effort a D.C. insider and close friend of the justice says is “part of Left’s effort to undermine [the] Court and ultimately pack it.”
Mark Paoletta, a leading Washington, DC, lawyer and former general counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Trump administration, unleashed a scathing review in a post to X on Monday of the New York Times’ most recent effort to pick Thomas’s financial disclosures apart and paint him as corrupt. That Times report points to a 1999 loan Thomas received from his longtime friend Anthony Welters for $267,230 to purchase a 40-foot luxury motor coach and frames the transaction between friends as shady dealing.
Paoletta shredded the Times report point-by-point and provided receipts proving the hypocrisy of the left-wing media, which has declined to attack previous liberal Supreme Court justices and other Democrats for engaging in similar behavior.
“Here we go again, Democrats & media allies are smearing Justice Thomas b/c his friend loaned him money in 1999 to purchase RV. Both Thomas & friend say loan was satisfied. Attacks on Thomas are unprecedented & prove Left wants to destroy Court b/c it’s no longer liberal,” wrote Paoletta, who has been friends with Thomas since he assisted with his confirmation to the Supreme Court in 1991.
“Loan secured by RV so didn’t need to be reported. Thomas didn’t try to hide loan either b/c nothing wrong w/ it. He listed friend as lienholder on RV title long after loan terms satisfied in 2008. Friend listed until 2023 when press found hunting for things to attack Thomas,” he continued.
Paoletta also released Welters’ full statement, which he noted was “not covered in full” by the Times and which states that the loan was “satisfactorily repaid.”
“As I have previously stated, I believed Justice Thomas satisfied the loan. Because the loan was made 25 years ago and completed 15 years ago, bank statements — which I sought — no longer exist. While not a tangible record, I continue to put stock in my contemporaneous belief,” Welters said. “While I understand the attention given who this involves, the difference between what you’re comparing to and what happened here is that a friend lent another friend money. As anyone who has borrowed from or lent to a family or friends, it’s simply not the same as a bank.”
“Bottom line, I lent a friend money. The loan was properly papered. The loan, I felt, was satisfactorily repaid. That bank statements don’t exist decades later shouldn’t be surprising,” he continued.
Paoletta, who also co-authored a book on Justice Clarence Thomas, noted that the justice recused himself from two cases having to do with Welters’ company and accused the media of “manufacturing a ‘scandal’ for partisan purposes.”
“None of these attacks over past year have demonstrated in any way that Thomas didn’t properly recuse from any case or that his jurisprudence was impacted. Why the constant attacks?” he said.
Paoletta also effectively pointed out the “double standard” the left-wing media have for reporting on previous liberal Supreme Court justices, who had similarly been on paid trips or received expensive gifts or favors from close wealthy friends.
“Left unbothered Justice Brennan received $20K in cash & $120k in loan forgiveness for condo from wealthy developer, w/ $60k forgiven in loan in 1990 & $60K forgiven in 1991. He didn’t report $120K in loan forgiveness until he was off Court. @RuthMarcus,” he wrote, citing a 1991 Washington Post report, which quoted left-leaning judicial ethics experts condoning the exchange as “tolerable.”
“This is pure vendetta by Left attacking Thomas’ relationships off Court because of job he does on the Court. Dems and media tried to destroy Thomas in his 1991 confirmation b/c he is black conservative & they failed. Thomas is now our greatest Justice & the Left is furious,” Paoletta said. “This is why press obsessed w/ going after Thomas & not other Justices/public officials, like stench of graft w/@POTUS & family. Biden paid $200k by brother same day brother paid by company seeking influence & claims it’s repayment of loan. Really??”
Paoletta also noted that while he is “not in favor of scrutinizing Justices’ friendships…” left-wing media have not applied similar scrutiny to the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s relationship with NPR reporter Nina Totenberg and her husband.
“I’m not in favor of scrutinizing Justices’ friendships. Friends help friends. But if we’re doing this, what about RBG & husband receiving free medical care from husband/doctor of close friend @NinaTotenberg, @NPR reporter whose job is to cover Court?” he wrote.
“This wasn’t casual arrangement where he offered advice over dinner. He was RBG’s doctor, according to Totenberg’s memoir, continually helping with medical treatments and care. This was free medical services worth tens of thousands $$, if not much more,” he continued.
He added:
There were many gifts between RBG & Totenberg, w/ RBG giving Totenberg countless tickets to performances (if Thomas did this, this would be cast as trying to buy good press). Not aware of a single ethics or Supreme Court reporter criticizing RBG & Totenberg friendship.
RBG never reported any gift of free medical services from Totenberg’s husband. And Totenberg had business before court every day. In my view, friends help friends. But media has unleashed a dangerous assault on Thomas to look at every relationship he has ever had.
Paoletta continued, pointing out that former Justice Stephen Breyer was “flown around [the] world on [the] dime of [the] mega Democrat donor Pritzker family” without being subjected to media claims that he was “bought and paid for by that family.”
As Breitbart News has previously reported, the media’s targeting of Thomas and unequal application of scrutiny are evidence the left is engaged in reverse court-packing: unable to add seats to the Supreme Court, partisan Democrats are targeting the two most conservative members of the court, including Thomas and Justice Samuel Alito, in an effort to keep them from voting on the major issues facing the nation.
“Dems don’t believe in independent judiciary. [Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY)] threatened 2 justices on abortion case. Dems sent activists to harass justices at homes & one planned assassination,” Paoletta continued.
“These attacks have nothing to do with ethics. It’s all about trying to control the Court and getting it back to being a super legislature issuing rulings to implement progressive laws and rules. It won’t work. Double standard on Justice Thomas is despicable,” he said.
“Attacks on Thomas are escalating in dangerous way, w/ organizations devoting unheard of resources to take down sitting Justice because they hate him for never bowing to attacks and standing up to Left’s assault on the Court. These attacks must be exposed,” he continued. “It’s disturbing for media to have agenda to smear conservative Justices & erode public confidence in Court. Fortunately, polls show public understands media can’t be trusted, w/ 62% stating they have ‘not very much’ or ‘none at all’ trust in media.”