Clarence Thomas has struck again.

To his impressive list of recent supreme court victories – abolishing the right to an abortion, eradicating affirmative action, undermining federal regulations, and more – the ultraconservative justice can now add thwarting the criminal prosecution of Donald Trump for hoarding classified documents.

On Monday, Judge Aileen Cannon astonished the judicial world by dismissing the case. She did so based on a widely discredited legal argument that the special counsel who brought the prosecution, Jack Smith, had been improperly appointed.

The argument, initially aired by the former US president’s lawyers, had received scant support in judicial circles, given that stretching back a quarter of a century it has been repeatedly rejected by the courts. But there was one jurist who encouraged Cannon to pursue such contrarian thinking: Thomas.

    • Bumblefumble@lemm.ee
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      4 months ago

      I don’t really think that’s true. I think you could offer him a large sum of money to do the right thing and he still wouldn’t do it. It’s not even like the bribes are that huge. John Oliver tried, and I know that it was too public of course, but I still think if some rich progressive person were to offer him 10 million dollars or something to not be a huge POS he still wouldn’t take the offer cause he also just happens to be a huge POS. Like the bribes are nice, but he does also just personally want to make America a christofascist hellhole.

      • Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        I mean, this is the same as a sex worker saying they don’t do butt stuff.

        For what it’s worth, I respect sex workers. I don’t respect politicians that sell out of the American people, however. That might be one of the lowest things I can think of, in fact.

      • ChronosTriggerWarning@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        I think it was Harlan Crow(sp?) that said they give Thomas gifts NOT to influence his rulings, but because he rules in ways they appreciate. So, it’s more for services rendered, less about influencing outcomes.

  • Allonzee@lemmy.world
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    4 months ago

    Reminder: Both Donald and his dad Fred had policies for their slums that would have quietly denied people that look like Thomas from even renting one of their apartments.

    Their employees were instructed to put a little “C” for “Colored” on their rental applications for efficient denial on the basis of race.

    Yet another example that the class war presides over all the other culture wars we are encouraged to beat one another to death over to stop us from engaging our owners.

    • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      “There’s class warfare, all right, but it’s my class, the rich class, that’s making war, and we’re winning.”

      -Warren Buffet. Bragging about the situation.

      He wasn’t attempting to raise awareness of the issue as evidenced by his disowning his granddaughter when she did try to raise awareness of the issue by being interviewed for the documentary The 1% by one of the Johnson kids.

      They won’t allow us to regulate them, and have each killed hundreds of millions of us so far. I believe the phrase is believe someone when they tell you who they are, these people are unrepentant murderers, thieves, and environmental terrorists at an unprecedented level. They woke up and chose violence, we can only choose self defense at this point.

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    It’s a GOOD THING he has NO Conflict Of Interest and is ONLY doing what’s he thinks the Law is Telling Him!

    • tacosplease@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      The article title is too early to be correct though. There is a good chance this decision gets judge Cannon removed from the case. Clarence may have made it much worse for Trump.

      Even this supreme court is not going to allow the case to be dismissed over the appointment of a special counsel. No other judges joined Thomas’s concurrence because it was clearly wrong. He might pick up Alito when the district sides with Smith on appeal and Trump sends it back to SCOTUS. But 2 to 7 doesn’t give them the majority.

      Smith may (and should) ask to have her removed over this and previous obvious bias/errors which I believe the district judges would also approve at this point.

      • ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com
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        4 months ago

        All that is correct. But it’s a good reminder that the point of Cannon’s move is not to finally resolve the case. It has always been to delay the case until after the election. At that point, Trump will appoint an AG that will kill the case on day one.

        Cannon also has one more goal - auditioning for a new job. I’m not a gambler, but if Trump wins I’d put money that the first open Supreme Court seat is hers.