Clarence Thomas never repaid a millionaire friend’s $267,000 loan which the Supreme Court justice used to buy a 40-foot luxury motorcoach, Senate investigators announced Wednesday.

Healthcare magnate Anthony Welters told the Senate Finance Committee he forgave the RV loan after five years of receiving payments on the interest but not the principal, the report states.

“Now we know that Justice Thomas had up to $267,230 in debt forgiven and never reported it on his ethics forms,” Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden, (D-OR) said in a statement.

Wyden called on Thomas to specify exactly how much of the debt he paid and whether the loan was reported on tax returns.

    • Nougat@kbin.social
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      34
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      1 year ago

      I will say this every time:

      If the punishment is a fine, it’s only illegal for poor people.

      • EatYouWell
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        1 year ago

        Fines should scale with networth. I think a country or two in the UK do that, and someone got like a $100k speeding ticket.

        • ASeriesOfPoorChoices
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          1
          ·
          edit-2
          1 year ago

          I think you mean a country in Europe.

          The UK is a country, and countries don’t have countries in them*. As a side note to add, the UK is in Europe, but not in the EU.

          * looks like I was wrong. Normally countries don’t have countries in them - but the UK does!

        • SheeEttin
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          8
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          1 year ago

          Due process.

          And if the government law enforcement refuses to prosecute, well, there might be a trial like the one Scarecrow held in whichever Batman movie that was.

          • EatYouWell
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            5
            ·
            1 year ago

            There’s no due process for ethical violations in the SC because they don’t have a code of ethics that they have to abide by.

            The worst that’s going to happen here is he might have to pay a bit of back taxes, but I doubt even that will happen.

            • WaxedWookie
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              4
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              1 year ago

              There’s a special place in hell for those that take a position to represent others before selling those you’re supposed to represent down the river for your own personal enrichment.

              No - representing those that are bribing you doesn’t count.

    • Nudding
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      8
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      You know bribery is legal in the USA, right? They call it “lobbying”