Former Vice President Mike Pence defended Justice Clarence Thomas in a Saturday twitter thread that blasted accusations of corruption and calls by some Democrats for his resignation from the high court.
Mr. Pence, who is weighing a 2024 White House bid, said Justice Thomas has been “maliciously attacked by the left, including then Sen. Joe Biden,” since he was nominated to the Supreme Court in 1991.
Mr. Pence said the attacks, “are continuing today, and it’s appalling to see.”
Senate Democrats are examining new ethics rules, and some have called for Justice Thomas to step down, amid news reports he was gifted lavish vacations and other benefits from Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow.
Another media report found Justice Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, received tens of thousands of dollars in consulting fees from conservative judicial advocate Leonard Leo a decade ago. She was paid prior to Mr. Leo’s nonprofit filing an amicus brief in a case pending before the high court.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Rhode Island Democrat, has called on the Justice Department to investigate Mr. Thomas and several House Democrats have called for his resignation.
Justice Thomas said he followed Supreme Court guidelines in all of his financial disclosures.
The stories have generated a new round of protests in front of the houses of several justices, prompting safety concerns and raising legal questions.
Protesters in the neighborhoods of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and John Roberts were demanding “ethics on the court,” but Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said the protesters should be arrested under a law prohibiting demonstrations in front of the homes of judges.
“This is a criminal threat to the safety of the Supreme Court,” Mr. Lee said. “Why are U.S. Marshals being instructed not to make arrests?”
Mr. Pence on Saturday tweeted the cover of Justice Thomas’s 2008 memoir, “Clarence Thomas: My Grandfather’s Son.” and joined other defenders of Justice Thomas’s ethics.
“I stand with Justice Clarence Thomas and call on every American to join me in defending this good man and principled jurist,” Mr. Pence tweeted. “Clarence Thomas is a man of integrity with an inspiring personal story and has upheld the ideals enshrined in our Constitution throughout his life without compromise.”
• Susan Ferrechio can be reached at sferrechio@washingtontimes.com.
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