What threats is Thomas talking about? He did not make it clear. But the justice apparently feels threatened by recent reports that he repeatedly failed to disclose his wife's non-investment income. The story, broken by Common Cause, should lead to serious consequences, Zeese says. From the bar complaint:
Clarence Thomas breached his legal duty and violated the Rules of Professional Conduct by knowingly and willfully failing for 20 years to state truthfully on required AO 10 Financial Disclosure Forms that his wife Virginia earned non-investment income. Clarence Thomas further labored under a financial conflict of interest by failing to disclose $100,000 in support for his nomination by the Citizens United Foundation when he sat in judgment of a case involving Citizens United. Finally, he made rulings that his wife benefited from financially and professionally, and by extension, that benefited him. In short, this unethical and criminal conduct violates the Rules of Professional Conduct, and undermines the rule of law, respect for the law and confidence in the law.
Thomas has sought to resolve the issue by filing amended financial-disclosure forms. But Zeese says that should not be the end of it:
Justice Thomas acted knowingly and willfully. First, judges are presumed to know the law and at least four of Justice Thomas' colleagues on the Supreme Court--Justices Breyer, Ginsberg, Kennedy and Roberts--knew well enough to disclose their spousal income during the same time frame that Justice Thomas did not.
Second, according to the Department of Justice Handbook on Prosecutions, a defendant's signature on a document is strong evidence of willfulness and knowledge. See United States v. Tucker, 133 F.3d 1208, 1218 n. 11 (9th Cir. 1998) (noting that signature proved knowledge of contents of return); United States v. Mohney, 949 F.2d 1397, 1407 (6th Cir. 1991) (holding that signature is prima facie evidence that the signer knows the contents of the return); United States v. Drape, 668 F.2d 22, 26 (1st Cir. 1982) (finding that defendant's signature is sufficient to establish knowledge once it has been shown that the return was false).
Perhaps most alarming is Thomas' failure to disclose conflicts that might have affected his decision-making:
It appears that Justice Thomas had a reason for not disclosing that his wife was working for a conservative think tank and a conservative 501c(4) group; he did not want litigants who had cases pending before the Supreme Court to have information that could be used to disqualify him from hearing those cases, and he wanted his family to benefit financially from his decisions.
Does the law apply to all Americans? That question is at the heart of the POE complaint:
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