Abe came first, enduring a scandal in 1969 that led him to losing his job over a $20,000.00 payment that he accepted and then returned three years earlier in 1966. Clarence is fighting scandal because unlike the rest of us, he likes to travel in a private jet paid by billionaire pals.
Abe Fortas was a legendary insider Washington DC power lawyer. He was counsel to Lyndon Johnson during Johnson's years in the senate and as VP, and was by LBJ's side when he became president, offering advice on such things as whether in his first address to congress days after Kennedy was killed, Johnson should raise the issue of the stalled civil rights bills. Several advisors told LBJ that he only had a certain amount of presidential prestige to spend, and he shouldn't waste it on civil rights, considering the southern senators' ability to block any civil rights legislation. "Well what the hell is the presidency for?" Johnson replied, and took the fight for civil rights to the senate, and won.
Anyway, LBJ appointed Fortas to the Supreme Court and in 1969 it was revealed Fortas had agreed to be paid 20 thousand dollars to do consulting work for a civil rights foundation formed by Louis Wolfson. Such agreements were not unusual for justices. Justice Douglas had a paid position with the Albert Parvin Foundation ("Helping people named Albert everywhere") and Chief Justice Burger had one with Burger King...just kidding...he had a paid position with the Mayo Foundation ("Advocating for the increased use of America's third favorite condiment.")
Unfortunately for Fortas, Wolfson was under investigation for security violations by the DOJ. Fortas resigned from the foundation in 1966 and returned the money. But by 1969 President Nixon was looking to make a supreme court appointment, and with a little help from Life Magazine, an expose was printed about the three-year-old contretemps.
Republican congressmen and senators called for Fortas to resign. But it was the public comments from two Democratic Senators that sealed Abe's fate. Senators Walter Mondale (Minnesota) and Joseph Tydings (Maryland) called for Fortas to resign, with the NY Times printing a headline on page one that read "Tydings calls for Fortas to resign".
Both Democrats knew that Nixon, a Republican, would get to appoint the next Justice, which could flip the court to a conservative majority. They did not care. "The confidence of our citizens in our judiciary must be preserved" Tydings declared. Fortas resigned soon after (starting Nixon down his own odyssey of two failed nominees of his own, which we will save for another post).
Clarence Thomas has been reported to have accepted a nine-day holiday of Island hopping on a billionaire's super yacht, along with a private jet to meet the yacht. The cost? Well over $500,000.00.
Can you imagine a very disgruntled Rumpole being bumped from first class, sitting in a window seat at the back of the plane when a very large man and his hefty spouse come lumbering down the aisle of the plane and squeeze into the middle and aisle seats, trapping poor Rumpole for several hours of nonsensical conversation about original intent and a semi-violent dispute about why couldn't Thomas just read the plain text of the second amendment and understand the entire thing is about a militia?
Well, Justice Thomas did not want that either, so he went private all the way.
Interesting that the benefactor of Thomas is Harlan Crow, who doesn't deign to socialize with circuit court appellate judges- he only began paling around with CT after he was appointed to the Supreme Court.
ProPublica has opined that Justice Thomas's windfall has "no known precedent in the modern history of the Supreme Court", rumors about Chief Justice John Marshall being given a pony by Marbury, notwithstanding.
There is no talk of Clarence resigning. The "big man" of the Supreme Court will continue to blow his sax against reproductive rights, while avoiding Motel 6s (despite them leaving the light on for the big fella) and island hopping with billionaires and avoiding Rumpole in coach.
And can you even try and conceive of one Republican senator giving President Biden the chance to support some Red Chinese Sharia-law loving Muslim to the supreme court in Thomas's seat? Back in 1969 we had senators who cared about the country and our institutions more than politics. Those days are well behind us now.
"Padron me...I think I have the middle seat. Sorry..."
7 comments:
Just a brilliant commentary. So true. Rumpole, you are an amazing writer. Why would you not move to Hollywood and create tv procedurals like Law & Order and write movies. You are too good for local Miami stuff. Don’t waste your life like Carl Hiasson, Dave Barry or Meek Robinette.
You could also add that Abe Fortas was the lawyer appointed by the Supreme Court to handle the appeal in Gideon v. Wainwright. And was a founding partner of Arnold & Porter.
Good history lesson here but it is (way) incomplete. I am old enough to remember. The $20,000.00 was not the reason his nomination as CJ failed and he had to resign. The senate judiciary staff did some digging and found that Fortas, while a justice, sat in on WH staff meetings, lobbied senators on behalf of LBJ on legislation, here is the big one, shared confidential information about SC deliberations with LBJ. Further, he taught summer classes at American University and was paid $15,000.00 not from the school but from a slush fund set up by his old law firm, Arnold & Porter, and paid for by his old clients who had cases before the court. The $20,000 was just icing on the cake and in and of itself, would not have stopped his nomination.
I knew about the 15 to teach. Never heard it was from a slush fund.
It’s true LBJ called him often for advice after appointing him to the court. But that was LBJ. The times were different back then. LBJ used anyone he could and didn’t care about niceties like appearances of improprieties. He had his issues but if you read Robert Caro’s account of him becoming president and getting a tax bill an education bill a defense bill and a budget all passed in weeks when Kennedy couldn’t over the past year and the government was running on temporary funding bills of 90 days for months and months and then getting the civil rights bill passed over the southern senators filibuster all while getting the democratic nomination and managing to keep most of Kennedy’s people (who resented him ) working for him - it’s one of the most remarkable presidential performances in modern history.
So I don’t hold what Fortas did for LBJ against him. Johnson was his own force of nature.
Hey Rump. You are spot on about the LHJ contradiction. A JR Ewing in the White House who connived, lied, and bullied his way to successful and morally correct legislative achievements. But his MO and questionable methods do not in any way excuse Fortas' conduct. A little more history and illustration of LBJ's chicanery. Fortas replaced Arthur Goldberg on the court. Here is how it happened: LBJ took Goldberg on a ride on AF1. "Told" him (you get the picture)that if he resigned, he would be appointed UN ambassador, and get this one, would be the VP on LBJ's ticket in '68. Goldberg took the bait, resigned, and was replaced by Fortas. He did go to the UN but that was the last promise that LBJ kept to him. He ran for governor of NY in 1970, lost, and then represented Curt Flood in his appeal to the supreme court on baseball's reserve clause. He died in 1990. BTW, not reading Caro's biography of LBJ disqualifies anyone from discussing the political history of the era.
Surprised you didn't mention that Fortas argued Gideon.
Thomas should be impeached.
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