Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas condemned the “evil and lies” he and his wife, Ginni, have faced in recent years.
Thomas faced scrutiny for accepting lavish, undisclosed gifts from billionaire friends, while his wife, Ginni, faced criticism for trying to overturn the 2020 general election results.
The revelation about the non-disclosure of gifts came after an investigation by ProPública revealed that the judge took a luxurious vacation that was paid for by Harlan Crow, a Republican mega-donor.
“My wife and I, for the last two or three years, just evil and lies,” Thomas told attendees at a judicial conference in Alabama on Friday, according to The New York Times. “There’s certainly been a lot of negativity in our lives, my wife and I, over the last few years, but we’ve chosen not to focus on that.”
Thomas spoke about the criticism during the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit Judicial Conference held in Point Clear, Alabama. summoned by the judges of the 11th circuit of Florida, Georgia and Alabama, “to consider the business of the courts and discuss means of improving the administration of justice within the circuit.”
The country’s highest court adopted a code of ethics in November 2023 after judges faced increasing scrutiny over undisclosed travel and gifts.
The court’s longest-serving judge discussed a variety of topics during his hour-long appearance, in which former court clerk and current federal judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle interviewed him.
During the talk, Thomas also criticized Washington, D.C.
“Especially in Washington, people pride themselves on being horrible,” Thomas said, according to The Times. “It’s a horrible place as far as I’m concerned. Because in the rest of the country, it’s one of the reasons we like RVing, you get to be around normal people who aren’t proud of doing harmful things, just because they have the ability to do it.
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