U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas characterized the criticism lobbed at him and his wife, Ginny Thomas, as “nastiness” and “lies” while addressing a judicial conference Friday in Alabama.
“There’s certainly been a lot of negativity for my wife and I in the last few years,” Thomas told the 11th Circuit judicial conference in Point Clear, in Baldwin County, according to Bloomberg Law.
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Last year, Thomas acknowledged that he took three trips last year aboard a private plane owned by Republican megadonor Harlan Crow.
It’s the first time in years that Thomas has reported receiving hospitality from Crow. In a filing posted on the federal judiciary’s website, Thomas said he was complying with new guidelines from the federal judiciary for reporting travel, but did not include any earlier travel at Crow’s expense, including a 2019 trip in Indonesia aboard the yacht owned by the wealthy businessman and benefactor of conservative causes.
The report came amid a heightened focus on ethics at the high court that stems from a series of reports revealing that Thomas has for years received undisclosed expensive gifts, including international travel, from Crow.
At the Alabama conference, Thomas eschewed the culture of Washington, D.C., where he said “people pride themselves in being awful,” according to Bloomberg Law.
“It is a hideous place as far as I’m concerned,” Thomas said, according to the outlet.
He said he and his wife enjoy RVing because “you get to be around regular people who don’t pride themselves in doing harmful things merely because they have the capacity to do it or because they disagree.”
Thomas has ignored calls from some progressive groups to step aside from cases involving Jan. 6 because his wife, Ginni, attended then-President Donald Trump’s rally near the White House before protesters descended on the Capitol. Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, also texted senior Trump administration officials in the weeks after the election offering support and reiterating her belief that there was widespread fraud in the election.
According to the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals’ website, the conference was convened by the judges of the 11th Circuit, who preside over federal appeals in Alabama, Georgia and Florida, “to consider the business of the courts and to discuss means of improving the administration of justice within the circuit.”
