Clarence Thomas (Again), Ukraine, & Ed Sheeran’s Win
May 5, 2023
Thomas The Taking-Private-Money Engine
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ past decisions continue to push him into even deeper trouble. This week in the justice’s undeclared but very alarming financial transactions with Republican superdonor Harlan Crow, it appears that Crow paid tens of thousands of dollars to fund the education of Mark Martin, Thomas’ grandnephew who the justice had custody of at the time, and was “raising him as a son.”
According to ProPublica, billionaire real estate mogul (and Nazi memorabilia collector) Harlan Crow, a “dear friend” of Thomas, paid over $6,000 per month to fund Martin’s tuition at Hidden Lake Academy, a private boarding school in Georgia. A bank statement showed that Crow’s company paid for Martin’s tuition in July 2009, and a former administrator at the school claims that the company paid Martin’s tuition for his entire time at the school – roughly a year.
Before and after his time at Hidden Lake, Martin also attended another private boarding school, Randolph-Macon Academy in Virginia. “Harlan said he was paying for the tuition at Randolph-Macon Academy as well,” added the administrator, claiming Crow had told him as much during a visit to the billionaire’s property in the Adirondacks. While it’s unclear if Crow funded all four years of Martin’s tuition at both boarding schools, he might have shelled out over $150,000 for the boy’s education – none of which Thomas has disclosed.
Thomas hasn’t commented on the hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of luxury vacations he’s taken from Crow over multiple years, which were also revealed by ProPublica earlier this month. “This is way outside the norm. This is way in excess of anything I’ve seen,” said Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer. He added that during his tenure in the White House, a government official taking such a huge amount of money in undisclosed gifts would be immediately fired. Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts have both declined to testify before Congress about ethics issues.
Want To Know More?
- Judicial activist directed fees to Clarence Thomas’s wife, urged ‘no mention of Ginni’ (WaPo, $)
- Top Senate Democrats push for new ethics rules in wake of Clarence Thomas report as Republicans defend justice (CNN)
- A look at Harlan Crow, the billionaire central in Clarence Thomas controversies (NPR)
It’s time to play… Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader (if that 5th grader read a TON of news). Test your knowledge of recent world news with this short quiz. Submissions must be made by 12pm EST Monday, 5/8. The winner, announced Wednesday, will win bragging rights for the week as well as a free Daily Pnut t-shirt.
UAVs Over Ukraine
- It’s Ukraine update time! This week, we’ve got full-on drone warfare, increased Russian shelling, and a preemptive call for justice from President Zelenskyy. Though drones have been used throughout the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with viral videos showing Ukrainian forces using them to drop grenades on Russian troops, they’re now being used in headline-worthy strikes. On Wednesday, two drones appeared to strike the Kremlin in a supposed attempt on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s life.
- On Thursday, Moscow accused the U.S. of pushing for the attack. The U.S. denies any involvement and also noted that there is no evidence that a video supposedly showing the attack actually real. Just before Russia’s accusation, a wave of two dozen combat drones attacked Kyiv and the port city of Odesa, though most were shot down and no casualties were reported. The drone strike marks the third attack on Kyiv in four days.
- Speaking of remote Russian strikes on Ukrainian population centers, Russian shelling of the city of Kherson continued this week. Air strikes hit civilian targets including a hypermarket, a railway station, and residential buildings, killing 23 and wounding 46 others, according to Ukrainian sources.
- In response to the attacks, President Zelenskyy gave a speech in The Hague – where the International Criminal Court is headquartered – saying that Putin “deserves to be sentenced for these criminal actions right here in the capital of the international law.” He also predicted his country’s victory in the invasion, declaring, “I’m sure we will see that happen when we win. And we will win.” The ICC currently has an arrest warrant out for Putin for Russia’s alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
Additional World News
- Police accused over use of facial recognition at King Charles’s coronation (Guardian)
- WHO fires scientist who led COVID search over sex misconduct (ABC)
- Biden paves way for new U.S. sanctions tied to Sudan violence (Reuters)
- Israel says killers of British-Israeli mother and daughters shot dead in Nablus (CNN)
- Serbia struggles to comprehend first school shooting (Reuters)
- At CPAC, Hungary’s Orban decries LGBTQ+ rights, migration (AP)
- China’s club for talking to Central Europe is dead, Czechs say (Politico)
“The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense, not between right and wrong.” – Carl Jung
Not-So-Proud Boys
- Enrique Tarrio, the former president of the far-right Proud Boys, and four other members of the group were convicted of multiple felonies for their role in the January 6 riot. Among the charges were seditious conspiracy, conspiring to prevent the peaceful transfer of power, obstructing Congress, and many more.
- Tarrio was arrested on January 4, 2021, and was therefore not at the Capitol during the riot, sparing him any assault charges. They all now likely face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though that varies because there were different charges for each person. Prosecutors said the defendants were among the first wave of rioters to breach Capitol grounds.
The City That Never Sleeps (Except If There’s A Murderer On The Loose)
- On Monday, Jordan Neely was riding the subway when, according to his fellow riders, he began acting erratically. After telling the other passengers that he was tired and hungry, he took off his jacket and threw it on the ground, at which point a fellow passenger put him in a chokehold and killed him. The manner of death was ruled a homicide, but the man who killed him – a 24-year-old former U.S. Marine from Queens – was questioned and then, inexplicably, released.
- On Wednesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “Each situation is different. … We have so many cases where passengers assist other riders. We don’t know exactly what happened here until the investigation is thorough.” On Thursday, Governor Kathy Hochul took a different approach, saying that Neely’s family “deserves justice,” and that she found it “horrific” to watch the video of him dying. The DA is investigating the incident and encouraged witnesses to come forward.
Additional USA News
- Atlanta shooting suspect, Deion Patterson, charged with murder and four counts of aggravated assault (NBC)
- Trump jurors see new video of ex-president defending lewd “Grab ’em” remarks (Reuters)
- Florida Republicans pass bills on pronoun usage at schools, ban on diversity programs (AP)
- Total Wine magnate makes his bid for open Maryland Senate seat official (Politico)
- US Senate repeals solar panel tariff suspension, Biden expected to veto (Reuters)
- Iowa lawmakers pass legislation to roll back child labor protections (CNN)
- Backpacks banned by Michigan school district for safety, weapon concerns: ‘Difficult decision’ (USA Today)
Thinking Out Loud – For Himself
- British pop star Ed Sheeran is getting let off the hook in a copyright infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed by the heirs of Ed Townsend (Marvin Gaye’s co-writer on the soul classic “Let’s Get It On”), accused Sheeran of lifting parts of the song’s melody for his own hit “Thinking Out Loud.” Filed in 2017, Townsend’s family claimed that Sheeran’s radio hit has “striking similarities” and shares “overt common elements” to “Let’s Get It On,” which was copyrighted in 1973.
- On Thursday, the jury unanimously decided that Sheeran is not liable for copyright infringement. Jurors stated that Sheeran had come up with “Thinking Out Loud” entirely independently, meaning that any considerations about copyright infringement were moot. “I’m obviously very happy with the outcome of the case, and it looks like I’m not having to retire from my day job, after all,” said Sheeran after hearing the decision. The star also noted that the trial had dragged him away from his grandfather’s funeral in Ireland to be present in the New York court.
- If you’d like to make your own judgment – because everybody needs their own opinion – here’s a side-by-side comparison of the two songs. Pay close attention to the drum patterns and guitars and you might be able to see where Townsend’s estate is coming from – kind of?
Additional Reads
- At Musk’s brain-chip startup, animal-testing panel is rife with potential conflicts (Reuters)
- Black bear captured and tagged in Santa Monica Mountains for the first time (CBS)
- As fentanyl deaths surge, some state lawmakers push back against ‘harm reduction’ (NPR)
- Michelle Obama launches company to improve child nutrition (NBC)
- Ancient DNA shows who wore 20,000-year-old pendant (NBC)
- A star is seen swallowing a planet “in one gulp” for the first time. Earth will likely suffer the same fate in 5 billion years. (CBS)
- Attorney General James and Bonta to Investigate the NFL’s Treatment of Women (NYT, $)