Stevens defends Thomas
Retired Justice John Paul Stevens defended his former Supreme Court colleague Justice Clarence Thomas, who is under fire from some members of Congress who want Tomas investigated on conflict-of-interest charges.
Some lawmakers have called on Thomas to recuse himself from the health care constitutional challenge, and some have also asked the Justice Department to investigate whether Thomas violated ethics rules when he failed to disclose his wife’s income from conservative and Tea Party- related organizations on his financial disclosures.
But Stevens said he does not believe Thomas’s wife’s activities nor the financial disclosure omissions have any effect on the way Thomas deliberates.
“I … don’t think there’s a chance in the world that it will affect his vote,” Stevens told USA Today’s Joan Biskupic. “That is one vote that you really can predict.”
But Stevens also said of the Thomases: “You can’t help but wish that they had a lower profile.”
The LawyersUSA headline is contradicted by the text of the article. Stevens’ quoted statements: “I… don’t think there’s a chance in the world that it will affect his vote…You can’t help but wish that they had a lower profile,” cannot reasonably be interpreted as a defense of Thomas. At best it damns Thomas for different things.