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☆ John Roberts has a united Supreme Court on Trump. Now comes the hard part
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Joan Biskupic | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

Not since the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore has the Supreme Court been in the middle of an election battle of such potential magnitude. Several of the justices’ spouses, including Jane Roberts, wife of the chief justice, sat in a special guest session. Roberts’ criticism of the Colorado Supreme Court decision barring Trump was echoed by his colleagues, even as they varied in their constitutional grounds. Just as Roberts can set the tone for oral arguments, the chief justice presides over their private votes on cases. As he strives for consensus, Roberts is likely to try to keep any separate, concurring opinions to a minimum.

Persons: CNN —, John Roberts, Donald Trump, Roberts, comity, Bush, Gore, Jane Roberts, Mark Paoletta, Clarence Thomas, Ginni, Trump, Jason Murray, “, you’re, ” Murray, ” Roberts, United States …, Joe Biden, Jonathan Mitchell, ”, Brett Kavanaugh, Elena Kagan, Murray, ” Kagan Organizations: CNN, Republican, Democratic, Trump, Colorado Supreme, Colorado voters, United, Capitol, White, Liberal Locations: Colorado, United States, Wisconsin, Michigan

☆ Affordable Housing Crisis in US West: Why It's Hard to Build New Homes
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-13 | by ( Kyle Paoletta | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +15 min

The solution to keep prices under control seems fairly simple: Just build more housing. For a time, sprawl boosted housing supply and accommodated newcomers to the West: Nearly 60 million more people live in the region now compared with the 1950s. Running out of landWhen the economy crashed in 2008, housing construction screeched to a halt. All this red tape has caused a serious slowdown in much-needed housing construction. Build, build, buildDespite the unique challenges of building in the paradoxically wide-open West, some cities have been able to break through.

Persons: Mike Segrest, Megan Lawson, Kyle Stevens, Carrier Johnson, “, Lawson, Land Management . Nevada Sen, Catherine Cortez Masto, Kyle Roerink, Hillary Schieve, Schieve, Howard Blackson, Kyle Paoletta's Organizations: Forest Service, Southern Ute, Marin Headlands, Bureau, Land Management ., Water Network, Biggest, Biggest Little City, Housing Administration, Harper's Magazine, New York Magazine, Oasis Locations: Colorado, Durango ., it's, Animas, San Juan Mountains, Durango, Las Vegas, Montana, Houston, Minneapolis, Rocky, Phoenix, Denver, Mississippi, San Diego, San Jose , California, Marin County, San Francisco, Santa Fe , New Mexico, Jackson , Wyoming, California, Land Management . Nevada, Vegas, Reno , Nevada, Reno, Cumulatively, Biggest Little, Summit, Washington

☆ What ProPublica’s Latest Hit Piece Gets Wrong
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-19 | by ( Mark Paoletta | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact Dow Jones Reprints at 1-800-843-0008 or visit www.djreprints.com. https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-propublicas-latest-hit-piece-gets-wrong-justice-clarence-thomas-supreme-court-accusation-misinformation-truth-yacht-70292e84

Persons: Dow Jones, clarence, thomas

☆ A film, websites, and even a Twitter fan account praising Clarence Thomas were all part of a coordinated public relations campaign backed by nonprofit groups tied to a Federalist Society chairman
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-23 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

But one recent PR campaign has centered on Justice Clarence Thomas, The Washington Post reported. But one more recent campaign was directed at Justice Thomas, who had already spent about three decades on the Court's bench. According to the Post, a nonprofit called the Judicial Education Project paid the lawyer about $300,000 in 2016 for "media projects." "Since his confirmation on October 15, 1991, Justice Thomas has been a stalwart defender of the original meaning of the Constitution." The comment was made years ago in a 2007 biography of Thomas, "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas."

Persons: Leonard Leo, Clarence Thomas, Leo, Thomas, Anita Hill, Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce, Mark Paoletta —, Paoletta, HBO's, Len Amato, —, Michael Pack, Ginni Thomas, Harlan Crow, Kentanji Brown, JCN, Leonard Leo's Organizations: Washington Post, Service, The Washington Post, Federalist Society, Post, HBO, Trump White House, Judicial, Project, Politico, Daily, Washington Examiner, Post . Records, CRC, Relations, Advisors, Judicial Crisis, New York Times, Crisis Locations: Wall, Silicon, Virginia, United States, Jackson

☆ Opinion: Mitch McConnell’s confidence is being put to the test
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Richard Galant | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +17 min

We’re looking back at the strongest, smartest opinion takes of the week from CNN and other outlets. Not to worry, said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a veteran of debt limit battles. McConnell’s reassurance that all will work out in the end is validated by history, but that doesn’t mean this time couldn’t be different. “If female voters are key to a Donald Trump victory in 2024, the former president should be in big trouble – but he doesn’t seem to care,” Jill Filipovic observed. “The town hall audience – selected on the basis of their intention to vote in the Republican primary in New Hampshire – appeared to be made up mostly of Trump fans.

☆ Opinion: Clarence Thomas’ inability to fill out forms properly defies belief
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-10 | by ( Opinion Steven Lubet | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has had to explain decades of omissions on his annual financial reports. As a Supreme Court justice, Thomas routinely interprets complex statutes that affect millions of Americans, priding himself on close adherence to the text. It beggars belief that he could repeatedly misinterpret plain statutory requirements and simple instructions on his annual disclosure reports. Supreme Court justices have life tenure. That is why full compliance with financial disclosure laws is so important, and why Thomas’ evasiveness is so wrong.

☆ Justice Thomas’s Friend Defends Failure to Disclose Tuition Payments by Harlan Crow
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Charlie Savage | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

WASHINGTON — A Republican donor from Texas paid for two years of private-school tuition for Justice Clarence Thomas’s great-nephew, a gift that the justice did not disclose, a friend of the justice acknowledged in a statement on Thursday. The acknowledgment added detail to a report on Thursday by ProPublica, which last month documented how Justice Thomas had received gifts of luxury travel from the billionaire donor, Harlan Crow. The revelations, which also include the sale of the home of Justice Thomas’s mother to Mr. Crow, have raised questions over the justice’s ethical practices. In his statement, Mark Paoletta, Justice Thomas’s friend and a former official for the Trump administration, argued that the justice was not required to report the tuition. “This malicious story shows nothing except for the fact that the Thomases and the Crows are kind, generous, and loving people who tried to help this young man,” Mr. Paoletta wrote.

☆ ProPublica: GOP megadonor paid private school tuition for grandnephew of Justice Clarence Thomas
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-04 | by ( Tierney Sneed | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A Texas billionaire and GOP megadonor paid boarding school tuition for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ grandnephew, and the justice did not report the financial assistance for the child he helped raised on his annual disclosures, according to a new ProPublica report – the latest revelation raising ethical questions around the high court. The ProPublica report on Thursday revealed that the billionaire Harlan Crow paid tuition for Mark Martin, who lived with Thomas’ family as a child and for whom the justice became a legal guardian. ProPublica cited a 2009 bank statement and an interview with a former administrator at the Georgia boarding school Martin attended. The former administrator at the school, Hidden Lake Academy, told ProPublica that Crow paid for Martin’s tuition for the year or so Martin was at the boarding school. The administrator said, according to ProPublica, that he had been told by Crow that Crow also paid for Martin’s tuition at another school, the Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia, which is Crow’s alma mater.

☆ 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
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Lloyd Lee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Earlier this month, ProPublica reported on Justice Clarence Thomas's undisclosed luxury 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. 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. Sharif Tarabay, the artist of the painting, told ProPublica that the piece depicts a moment at Topridge from about five years ago. But that is immaterial to the conclusion that Justice Thomas had no obligation to disclose these innocuous trips," Paoletta wrote.

☆ A Christian minister testified that he was involved in decades-long efforts to influence the Supreme Court: 'We pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Oma Seddiq | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

An evangelical Christian minister testified he was involved in an effort to influence Supreme Court justices' thinking. Robert Schenck told a congressional panel that he gained advance knowledge of a 2014 Supreme Court ruling. "I believe we pushed the boundaries of Christian ethics and comprised the high court's promise to administer equal justice," Schenck said. The allegations have prompted renewed calls from Democratic lawmakers for the Supreme Court justices to abide by an ethics code. "I don't believe a thing Mr. Schneck says," Paoletta, a former clerk for Justice Thomas, told the committee.

The House Jan. 6 committee is interviewing Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, on Thursday, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News. The interview was scheduled to begin around 9:30 a.m. NBC News cameras outside the O’Neill House building captured Thomas as she arrived at the Capitol. A source close to the panel told NBC News last week that the committee had reached an agreement with Thomas to be interviewed. Thomas first came under scrutiny for messages she sent to Mark Meadows, who was White House chief of staff on Jan. 6, telling him to encourage then-President Donald Trump not to concede the election to Joe Biden. The Jan. 6 committee delayed a public hearing that had been scheduled for Wednesday of this week because of Hurricane Ian.

☆ Jan. 6 Capitol riot committee interviewing Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court justice
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-29 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, moderates a pannel discussion titled "When did World War III Begin? The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot is interviewing Virginia Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, NBC News reported Thursday morning. Virginia Thomas, who goes by Ginni, arrived at a Capitol Hill office building flanked by security, NBC reported. A spokeswoman for the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment. Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., previously confirmed that the panel would interview Ginni Thomas this week.

Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterFILE PHOTO - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas arrives with his wife, Ginni Thomas, for a State Dinner for Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the White House in Washington, U.S. September 20, 2019. REUTERS/Erin ScottSept 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. congressional panel probing the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol reached an agreement to interview Virginia "Ginni" Thomas, the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, in the coming weeks, her lawyer told Reuters on Wednesday. The Washington Post has previously reported the committee obtained emails between Ginni Thomas and attorney John Eastman, who advised Donald Trump that then-Vice President Mike Pence could thwart formal congressional certification of Trump's 2020 election loss. "I can confirm that Ginni Thomas has agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the Committee," Mark Paoletta, an attorney for Thomas, said in an email, confirming an earlier CNN report. A lawyer for Thomas has said previously Thomas had no role in the Jan. 6 attack and never discussed election litigation strategy with Eastman.

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