Justice Clarence Thomas Failed To Disclose That Citizens United Foundation Supported His 1991 Nomination To The Supreme Court And Spent More Than $100,000 On Advertisements Attacking Opposing Senators, says www.ProtectOurElections.org
WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The watchdog group www.ProtectOurElections.org filed a second bar complaint on February 15, 2011 against Justice Clarence Thomas for bias and actual conflict of interest for his failure to disqualify himself from Citizens United v Federal Election Commission, 130 S.Ct. 876 (2010), and hiding the fact that Citizens United Foundation had supported his nomination and spent at least $100,000 on commercials attacking several Senators opposed to his nomination. The second bar complaint, filed with the Washington, D.C. Office of Bar Counsel, is at http://www.velvetrevolution.us/images/Clarence_Thomas_Bar_Supplement.pdf.
The release quotes a 1991 Time Magazine article:
The ad, produced by two independent right-wing groups, was intended to bolster Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas' confirmation chances by pointing the finger at three liberal Democrats who seemed likely to oppose him. Not coincidentally, the ad was produced by the same people who launched the 1988 Willie Horton spot that branded Michael Dukakis soft on crime but left George Bush open to charges of racism. Anxious not to be associated with such negative campaigning this time around, Bush quickly labeled the attacks on the Senators "counterproductive." Thomas pronounced them "vicious." His chief Senate supporter, Missouri Republican John Danforth, called them "sleazy" and "scurrilous."
Although Bush and chief of staff John Sununu demanded that the ads be - pulled, their right-wing sponsors -- L. Brent Bozell III, chairman of the Conservative Victory Committee, and Floyd Brown, chairman of Citizens United -- refused. Calling the campaign a "pre-emptive strike" to counter anticipated anti-Thomas commercials, as well as retaliation for the 1987 spots that helped defeat Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork, they vowed to keep running the messages for at least two weeks "until the left agrees to discontinue all its efforts against Judge Thomas." Thus far, that has been a mostly fitful effort at best, but Brown and Bozell appeared to see the flag of revolution rising above it. "Unfortunately," the two men declared in a written statement, "the Administration has no desire to confront the radical left."
The commercials, shown only in Washington at a cost of about $100,000, have reaped millions of dollars' worth of free publicity through network television and print-media reproductions that have accompanied news stories about the flap. That probably was the intent all along.
Damn. It always comes back to decency scold Brent Bozell III, doesn’t it?
Thomas is already on extremely shaky ground, with his wife actively lobbying to overturn healthcare reform. Apparently he should have recused himself from the Citizens United case, seeing as how one of the chief parties had campaigned to put Thomas on the court.
I’m sure the right will circle the wagons and come to Silent Thomas’ defense because IOKIYAR and liberals are the real racists, and Sonia Sotomayor once attended a La Raza luncheon so both sides do it! and on and on.
