Clarence Thomas, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, listens during a ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is facing fresh pressure on multiple fronts, following new reporting about his financial history and as House Democrats urge his recusal from the election interference case of former President Donald Trump.
Democrats cited the court’s new code of ethics by pointing to the actions of Thomas’ wife, Ginni Thomas, and her reported efforts to challenge the 2020 election results.
The split-screen scrutiny underscores the unique combination of influence and independence wielded by the powerful conservative justice, the most senior member of the nation’s highest court.
The investigative news outlet ProPublica revealed Monday that Thomas in 2000 told a Republican lawmaker that Congress should raise the salaries of Supreme Court justices.
Thomas, who was hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt at the time, said that “one or more justices will leave soon” if that action was not taken, ProPublica reported.
The congressman, Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns, was reportedly worried by the conversation. “His importance as a conservative was paramount,” Stearns told ProPublica in a recent interview. “We wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job and he was being paid properly.”
Stearns later wrote to Thomas that he intended to “look into a bill to raise the salaries of members of The Supreme Court.”
“As we agreed, it is worth a lot to Americans to have the constitution properly interpreted. We must have the proper incentives here, too,” Stearns wrote in the Jan. 11, 2000, letter.
In other private conversations around the same time, Thomas discussed removing a longstanding ban on justices giving paid speeches, ProPublica reported, citing a memo to then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist from a top judiciary official.
The official, L. Ralph…
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