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#clarence — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #clarence, aggregated by home.social.

  1. Nope, NOT Uncle #Clarence. In #Harriet #Beecher #Stowe’s original 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the character #Uncle #Tom was not a traitor to black people, but rather a #Christ-like, heroic figure who sacrificed his life to protect others. He was portrayed as a man of high integrity, faith, ...

  2. Nope, NOT Uncle #Clarence. In #Harriet #Beecher #Stowe’s original 1852 novel, Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the character #Uncle #Tom was not a traitor to black people, but rather a #Christ-like, heroic figure who sacrificed his life to protect others. He was portrayed as a man of high integrity, faith, ...

  3. The reindeer are taking a quick break in Clarence-Rockland!

    Hold onto your stockings, Clarence-Rockland! Santa is here! 🇨🇦

    Near the CN Tower...

    Track him live: noradsanta.org

    #SantaTracker #Canada #NoradTracksSanta #Clarence-Rockland

    noradsanta.org

  4. 2/ #Clarence Thomas argued #SupremeCourt #precedents R not “the gospel” & should be critically reexamined, signaling openness to overturning major longstanding rulings including those on #presidentialpowers, #redistricting, even sex marriage rights while warning against blindly following past decisions w/out regard to legal tradition, sound reasoning. Stare decisis, doctrine of precedent, according to which rules formulated by judges in earlier decisions are 2b similarly applied in later cases

  5. 2/ #Clarence Thomas argued #SupremeCourt #precedents R not “the gospel” & should be critically reexamined, signaling openness to overturning major longstanding rulings including those on #presidentialpowers, #redistricting, even sex marriage rights while warning against blindly following past decisions w/out regard to legal tradition, sound reasoning. Stare decisis, doctrine of precedent, according to which rules formulated by judges in earlier decisions are 2b similarly applied in later cases

  6. 2/ #Clarence Thomas argued #SupremeCourt #precedents R not “the gospel” & should be critically reexamined, signaling openness to overturning major longstanding rulings including those on #presidentialpowers, #redistricting, even sex marriage rights while warning against blindly following past decisions w/out regard to legal tradition, sound reasoning. Stare decisis, doctrine of precedent, according to which rules formulated by judges in earlier decisions are 2b similarly applied in later cases

  7. 2/ #Clarence Thomas argued #SupremeCourt #precedents R not “the gospel” & should be critically reexamined, signaling openness to overturning major longstanding rulings including those on #presidentialpowers, #redistricting, even sex marriage rights while warning against blindly following past decisions w/out regard to legal tradition, sound reasoning. Stare decisis, doctrine of precedent, according to which rules formulated by judges in earlier decisions are 2b similarly applied in later cases

  8. 2/ #Clarence Thomas argued #SupremeCourt #precedents R not “the gospel” & should be critically reexamined, signaling openness to overturning major longstanding rulings including those on #presidentialpowers, #redistricting, even sex marriage rights while warning against blindly following past decisions w/out regard to legal tradition, sound reasoning. Stare decisis, doctrine of precedent, according to which rules formulated by judges in earlier decisions are 2b similarly applied in later cases

  9. Amy Klobuchar calls on Supreme Court to hold Trump officials in contempt

    Senator Klobuchar warns of US getting ‘closer to a constitutional crisis’
    -- as Samuel Alito’s dissent signals deference to Trump

    On Sunday Minnesota senator #Amy #Klobuchar warned that the US is “getting closer and closer to a constitutional crisis”, but the courts, growing Republican disquiet at Trump administration policies, and public protest were holding it off.

    “I believe as long as these courts hold,
    and the constituents hold,
    and the congress starts standing up,
    our democracy will hold,”

    Klobuchar told CNN’s State of the Union, adding
    💥“but Donald Trump is trying to pull us down into the sewer of a crisis.”

    Klobuchar said the US supreme court should 👉hold Trump administration officials in contempt if they continue to ignore a court order to facilitate the return of Kilmar Ábrego García from El Salvador,
    the Maryland resident the government admitted in court it had deported by mistake.

    Klobuchar said the court could appoint a 👉special prosecutor, independent of Trump’s Department of Justice,
    to uphold the rule of law and charge any officials who are responsible for Ábrego García’s deportation,
    or have refused to facilitate his return.

    The senator’s comments came hours after supreme court released justice #Samuel #Alito’s #dissenting #opinion on the court’s decision to block the Trump administration from deporting more Venezuelans held in north Texas’s Bluebonnet detention center .

    In his dissent, Alito criticized the decision of the seven-member majority,
    saying the court had acted “literally in the middle of the night” and without sufficient explanation.

    The “unprecedented” relief was “hastily and prematurely granted”, Alito added.

    Alito, whose dissent was joined by fellow conservative justice #Clarence #Thomas, said there was “dubious factual support” for granting the request in an emergency appeal from the American Civil Liberties Union
    to block deportations of accused gang members that the administration contends are legal under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

    The majority did not provide a detailed explanation for the order released early on Saturday,
    only that the administration should not to remove Venezuelans held in the “until further order of this court”.

    The court has said previously that deportations under the 1798 law can only proceed if those scheduled to be removed are offered a chance to argue their case in court and were given “a reasonable time” to contest their pending removals.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2025/a

  10. #Clarence (2013-2018)
    Life is just one big adventure for Clarence and his two best friends, Jeff & Sumo.
    #TVThemeTunes #TVIntros #TVMastodon 📺 🎬

  11. The federal courts will NOT refer to the Justice Department, allegations that
    Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas may have violated ethics laws .
    Thomas has agreed to follow updated requirements on reporting trips and gifts,
    including clearer guidelines on hospitality from friends,
    the U.S. Judicial Conference wrote to Democratic senators who had called for an investigation into undisclosed acceptance of luxury trips.
    Thomas has previously said he wasn’t required to disclose the many trips he and his wife took that were paid for by wealthy benefactors like Republican megadonor Harlan Crow
    -- because they are close personal friends.
    The court didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
    The Supreme Court adopted its first code of ethics in 2023 in the face of sustained criticism -- though the new code still lacks a means of enforcement.
    It’s unclear whether the law allows the U.S. Judicial Conference to make a criminal referral regarding a Supreme Court justice,
    U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad wrote.
    He serves as secretary for the conference, which sets policy for the federal court system and is led by Chief Justice John Roberts.

    apnews.com/article/supreme-cou

  12. New ethics inquiry details more trips by #Clarence #Thomas paid for by wealthy benefactors

    Investigation by Senate Democrats found that Thomas accepted gifts and travel worth more than $4.75m since 1991

    Republicans have said the investigation is a way to undermine the conservative majority court,
    and all the Republicans on the committee protested against the subpoenas authorized for Crow and others as part of the investigation.

    No Republicans signed on to the final report,
    and no formal report from them was expected.

    Thomas has said that he was not required to disclose the trips that he and his wife, Ginni, took with Crow
    because the big donor is a close friend of the family and disclosure of that type of travel was not previously required.

    The new ethics code does explicitly require it, and Thomas has since gone back and reported some travel.

    Crow has maintained that he has never spoken with his friend about pending matters before the court.

    The report traces back to the late justice Antonin Scalia, saying he “established the practice” of accepting undisclosed gifts and hundreds of trips over his decades on the bench.

    The late justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and retired justice Stephen Breyer also took subsided trips when they were on the bench but disclosed them on their annual forms, it said.

    The investigation found that Thomas has accepted gifts and travel from wealthy benefactors worth more than $4.75m by some estimates since his 1991 confirmation
    and failed to disclose much of it.

    “The number, value and extravagance of the gifts accepted by Justice Thomas have no comparison in modern American history,” according to the report.

    It also detailed a 2008 luxury trip to Alaska taken by Justice Samuel Alito.
    He has said he was exempted from disclosing the trip under previous ethical rules.

    Alito also declined calls to withdraw from cases involving Donald Trump or the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol
    after flags associated with the riot were seen flying at two of Alito’s homes.
    Alito has said the flags were raised by this wife.

    Thomas has ignored calls to step aside from cases involving Trump, too.
    Ginni Thomas supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election that the Republican lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/d

  13. Leonard Leo, an influential conservative lawyer who advised Donald Trump during his first term forcefully pushed back Friday on talk that one or more conservative Supreme Court justices might retire after Trump again takes office in January.
    
Leo, who helped the president-elect select three Supreme Court picks during his first term, said in a statement that discussions of Justices #Clarence #Thomas, 76, or #Samuel A. #Alito Jr., 74, stepping down are unseemly.
    
The comment drew a rebuke from #Mike #Davis, a Trump aide who is advising him on potential judicial picks this time around,
    while #Leonard #Leo appears to be keeping his distance.
    
“No one other than Justices Thomas and Alito knows when or if they will retire, and talking about them like meat that has reached its expiration date is unwise, uninformed, and, frankly, just crass,” Leo said in the statement.

    “Justices Thomas and Alito have given their lives to our country and our Constitution, and should be treated with more dignity and respect than they are getting from some pundits.”
    washingtonpost.com/politics/20

  14. The Maga legal networks that could 💥topple Planned Parenthood 💥and gut women’s healthcare:

    In the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency,
    a young lawyer with crisply shorn blond hair approached the podium at a gathering for Texas members of the Federalist Society,
    a conservative legal group that wields immense power in the US judicial system.

    As vice-president of the group’s Fort Worth chapter, #Matthew #Kacsmaryk had the honor of presenting the first speaker.

    “We are blessed to have Judge #Edith #Jones,” Kacsmaryk announced.

    Jones, a longtime judge on the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    stepped on stage to introduce the evening’s guest, her friend,
    the supreme court justice #Clarence #Thomas.
    In her introduction, Jones also hailed the four new conservative judges Trump had appointed to join her on the appeals court.

    “They’ve raised the bar for the fifth circuit since I got on,” she said. “And that’s thanks to the #Federalist #Society, to Leonard.”

    #Leonard #Leo needed no last name in his introduction to this crowd
    as he took his seat in a black leather chair across from Thomas.

    The justice was the featured speaker
    but Leo may have been the most important person in the American legal system in that room
    – a conservative activist who had built the Federalist Society into a political powerhouse
    and helped Trump create the supreme court majority that,
    in 2022, erased federal protections for abortion.

    His influence continues to be on display now in one of the most consequential cases moving through the American legal system
    – one that seeks to strike another blow to abortion rights
    💥and could possibly bankrupt Planned Parenthood,
    one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare for women.

    It’s a lawsuit that has been filed by an anti-abortion activist tied to Leo and heard by judges
    – from the lower courts to the fifth circuit appeals court
    – who are also linked to Leo

    Three of the people on the stage at the Federalist Society event in Fort Worth in 2018
    – Kacsmaryk, Jones and Leo
    – have all played key roles in the case.

    Though the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher for one of the nation’s oldest healthcare providers,
    it is about more than abortion or healthcare.

    The lawsuit is a parable about Leo’s power amid a presidential election season
    whose outcome will probably determine to what extent Leo will continue to reshape the makeup and ideology of the nation’s courts.

    The case was filed in February 2021 by an anti-abortion activist
    who had conducted what he described as an
    “extensive undercover investigation” of the organization.

    He accuses Planned Parenthood of fraud
    – claiming that it owes $1.8bn in fines, fees and reimbursements to the Medicaid program.

    It’s an amount that could force the 108-year-old nonprofit healthcare provider to shutter clinics across the country.

    The lawsuit is titled
    "USA v Planned Parenthood"
    because it was filed under a federal whistleblower law
    that allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government
    over allegations that federal programs have been defrauded.

    It is the latest in a series of legal actions that started in 2015
    after Texas’s health officials used footage from the activist’s hidden-camera recordings as a basis to expel Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

    The activist and his allies claimed the videos showed Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue and endangering pregnant people’s health.

    Planned Parenthood repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Investigations in multiple states triggered by the video resulted in no disciplinary action against the healthcare provider.

    The US government
    – the source of 90% of the Medicaid funds paid to Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas
    – disputes that Planned Parenthood owes the federal government money.

    Federal officials say in a court filing that they found no evidence that Planned Parenthood had improperly billed for its services
    and that they found no reason Planned Parenthood should have been removed from Medicaid.

    Experts in healthcare law expected the case to be dismissed quickly.

    Yet none of these facts are as important to understanding the significance of this case as knowing where it was filed:
    in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas
    – home to zero Planned Parenthood clinics.

    This wasn’t an accident.

    The US district court in Amarillo is under the purview of the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    making it likely that any upward appeals in Planned Parenthood’s case would be heard in the hard-right appeals court,
    including by judges appointed by Trump or other conservative stalwarts like Jones.

    And by the time the Planned Parenthood case was filed, Kacsmaryk
    – that young attorney on stage making introductions at the Federalist Society event in Texas
    – had been serving as the federal district court judge for Amarillo for nearly two years.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  15. The Maga legal networks that could 💥topple Planned Parenthood 💥and gut women’s healthcare:

    In the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency,
    a young lawyer with crisply shorn blond hair approached the podium at a gathering for Texas members of the Federalist Society,
    a conservative legal group that wields immense power in the US judicial system.

    As vice-president of the group’s Fort Worth chapter, #Matthew #Kacsmaryk had the honor of presenting the first speaker.

    “We are blessed to have Judge #Edith #Jones,” Kacsmaryk announced.

    Jones, a longtime judge on the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    stepped on stage to introduce the evening’s guest, her friend,
    the supreme court justice #Clarence #Thomas.
    In her introduction, Jones also hailed the four new conservative judges Trump had appointed to join her on the appeals court.

    “They’ve raised the bar for the fifth circuit since I got on,” she said. “And that’s thanks to the #Federalist #Society, to Leonard.”

    #Leonard #Leo needed no last name in his introduction to this crowd
    as he took his seat in a black leather chair across from Thomas.

    The justice was the featured speaker
    but Leo may have been the most important person in the American legal system in that room
    – a conservative activist who had built the Federalist Society into a political powerhouse
    and helped Trump create the supreme court majority that,
    in 2022, erased federal protections for abortion.

    His influence continues to be on display now in one of the most consequential cases moving through the American legal system
    – one that seeks to strike another blow to abortion rights
    💥and could possibly bankrupt Planned Parenthood,
    one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare for women.

    It’s a lawsuit that has been filed by an anti-abortion activist tied to Leo and heard by judges
    – from the lower courts to the fifth circuit appeals court
    – who are also linked to Leo

    Three of the people on the stage at the Federalist Society event in Fort Worth in 2018
    – Kacsmaryk, Jones and Leo
    – have all played key roles in the case.

    Though the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher for one of the nation’s oldest healthcare providers,
    it is about more than abortion or healthcare.

    The lawsuit is a parable about Leo’s power amid a presidential election season
    whose outcome will probably determine to what extent Leo will continue to reshape the makeup and ideology of the nation’s courts.

    The case was filed in February 2021 by an anti-abortion activist
    who had conducted what he described as an
    “extensive undercover investigation” of the organization.

    He accuses Planned Parenthood of fraud
    – claiming that it owes $1.8bn in fines, fees and reimbursements to the Medicaid program.

    It’s an amount that could force the 108-year-old nonprofit healthcare provider to shutter clinics across the country.

    The lawsuit is titled
    "USA v Planned Parenthood"
    because it was filed under a federal whistleblower law
    that allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government
    over allegations that federal programs have been defrauded.

    It is the latest in a series of legal actions that started in 2015
    after Texas’s health officials used footage from the activist’s hidden-camera recordings as a basis to expel Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

    The activist and his allies claimed the videos showed Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue and endangering pregnant people’s health.

    Planned Parenthood repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Investigations in multiple states triggered by the video resulted in no disciplinary action against the healthcare provider.

    The US government
    – the source of 90% of the Medicaid funds paid to Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas
    – disputes that Planned Parenthood owes the federal government money.

    Federal officials say in a court filing that they found no evidence that Planned Parenthood had improperly billed for its services
    and that they found no reason Planned Parenthood should have been removed from Medicaid.

    Experts in healthcare law expected the case to be dismissed quickly.

    Yet none of these facts are as important to understanding the significance of this case as knowing where it was filed:
    in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas
    – home to zero Planned Parenthood clinics.

    This wasn’t an accident.

    The US district court in Amarillo is under the purview of the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    making it likely that any upward appeals in Planned Parenthood’s case would be heard in the hard-right appeals court,
    including by judges appointed by Trump or other conservative stalwarts like Jones.

    And by the time the Planned Parenthood case was filed, Kacsmaryk
    – that young attorney on stage making introductions at the Federalist Society event in Texas
    – had been serving as the federal district court judge for Amarillo for nearly two years.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  16. The Maga legal networks that could 💥topple Planned Parenthood 💥and gut women’s healthcare:

    In the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency,
    a young lawyer with crisply shorn blond hair approached the podium at a gathering for Texas members of the Federalist Society,
    a conservative legal group that wields immense power in the US judicial system.

    As vice-president of the group’s Fort Worth chapter, #Matthew #Kacsmaryk had the honor of presenting the first speaker.

    “We are blessed to have Judge #Edith #Jones,” Kacsmaryk announced.

    Jones, a longtime judge on the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    stepped on stage to introduce the evening’s guest, her friend,
    the supreme court justice #Clarence #Thomas.
    In her introduction, Jones also hailed the four new conservative judges Trump had appointed to join her on the appeals court.

    “They’ve raised the bar for the fifth circuit since I got on,” she said. “And that’s thanks to the #Federalist #Society, to Leonard.”

    #Leonard #Leo needed no last name in his introduction to this crowd
    as he took his seat in a black leather chair across from Thomas.

    The justice was the featured speaker
    but Leo may have been the most important person in the American legal system in that room
    – a conservative activist who had built the Federalist Society into a political powerhouse
    and helped Trump create the supreme court majority that,
    in 2022, erased federal protections for abortion.

    His influence continues to be on display now in one of the most consequential cases moving through the American legal system
    – one that seeks to strike another blow to abortion rights
    💥and could possibly bankrupt Planned Parenthood,
    one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare for women.

    It’s a lawsuit that has been filed by an anti-abortion activist tied to Leo and heard by judges
    – from the lower courts to the fifth circuit appeals court
    – who are also linked to Leo

    Three of the people on the stage at the Federalist Society event in Fort Worth in 2018
    – Kacsmaryk, Jones and Leo
    – have all played key roles in the case.

    Though the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher for one of the nation’s oldest healthcare providers,
    it is about more than abortion or healthcare.

    The lawsuit is a parable about Leo’s power amid a presidential election season
    whose outcome will probably determine to what extent Leo will continue to reshape the makeup and ideology of the nation’s courts.

    The case was filed in February 2021 by an anti-abortion activist
    who had conducted what he described as an
    “extensive undercover investigation” of the organization.

    He accuses Planned Parenthood of fraud
    – claiming that it owes $1.8bn in fines, fees and reimbursements to the Medicaid program.

    It’s an amount that could force the 108-year-old nonprofit healthcare provider to shutter clinics across the country.

    The lawsuit is titled
    "USA v Planned Parenthood"
    because it was filed under a federal whistleblower law
    that allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government
    over allegations that federal programs have been defrauded.

    It is the latest in a series of legal actions that started in 2015
    after Texas’s health officials used footage from the activist’s hidden-camera recordings as a basis to expel Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

    The activist and his allies claimed the videos showed Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue and endangering pregnant people’s health.

    Planned Parenthood repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Investigations in multiple states triggered by the video resulted in no disciplinary action against the healthcare provider.

    The US government
    – the source of 90% of the Medicaid funds paid to Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas
    – disputes that Planned Parenthood owes the federal government money.

    Federal officials say in a court filing that they found no evidence that Planned Parenthood had improperly billed for its services
    and that they found no reason Planned Parenthood should have been removed from Medicaid.

    Experts in healthcare law expected the case to be dismissed quickly.

    Yet none of these facts are as important to understanding the significance of this case as knowing where it was filed:
    in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas
    – home to zero Planned Parenthood clinics.

    This wasn’t an accident.

    The US district court in Amarillo is under the purview of the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    making it likely that any upward appeals in Planned Parenthood’s case would be heard in the hard-right appeals court,
    including by judges appointed by Trump or other conservative stalwarts like Jones.

    And by the time the Planned Parenthood case was filed, Kacsmaryk
    – that young attorney on stage making introductions at the Federalist Society event in Texas
    – had been serving as the federal district court judge for Amarillo for nearly two years.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  17. The Maga legal networks that could 💥topple Planned Parenthood 💥and gut women’s healthcare:

    In the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency,
    a young lawyer with crisply shorn blond hair approached the podium at a gathering for Texas members of the Federalist Society,
    a conservative legal group that wields immense power in the US judicial system.

    As vice-president of the group’s Fort Worth chapter, #Matthew #Kacsmaryk had the honor of presenting the first speaker.

    “We are blessed to have Judge #Edith #Jones,” Kacsmaryk announced.

    Jones, a longtime judge on the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    stepped on stage to introduce the evening’s guest, her friend,
    the supreme court justice #Clarence #Thomas.
    In her introduction, Jones also hailed the four new conservative judges Trump had appointed to join her on the appeals court.

    “They’ve raised the bar for the fifth circuit since I got on,” she said. “And that’s thanks to the #Federalist #Society, to Leonard.”

    #Leonard #Leo needed no last name in his introduction to this crowd
    as he took his seat in a black leather chair across from Thomas.

    The justice was the featured speaker
    but Leo may have been the most important person in the American legal system in that room
    – a conservative activist who had built the Federalist Society into a political powerhouse
    and helped Trump create the supreme court majority that,
    in 2022, erased federal protections for abortion.

    His influence continues to be on display now in one of the most consequential cases moving through the American legal system
    – one that seeks to strike another blow to abortion rights
    💥and could possibly bankrupt Planned Parenthood,
    one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare for women.

    It’s a lawsuit that has been filed by an anti-abortion activist tied to Leo and heard by judges
    – from the lower courts to the fifth circuit appeals court
    – who are also linked to Leo

    Three of the people on the stage at the Federalist Society event in Fort Worth in 2018
    – Kacsmaryk, Jones and Leo
    – have all played key roles in the case.

    Though the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher for one of the nation’s oldest healthcare providers,
    it is about more than abortion or healthcare.

    The lawsuit is a parable about Leo’s power amid a presidential election season
    whose outcome will probably determine to what extent Leo will continue to reshape the makeup and ideology of the nation’s courts.

    The case was filed in February 2021 by an anti-abortion activist
    who had conducted what he described as an
    “extensive undercover investigation” of the organization.

    He accuses Planned Parenthood of fraud
    – claiming that it owes $1.8bn in fines, fees and reimbursements to the Medicaid program.

    It’s an amount that could force the 108-year-old nonprofit healthcare provider to shutter clinics across the country.

    The lawsuit is titled
    "USA v Planned Parenthood"
    because it was filed under a federal whistleblower law
    that allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government
    over allegations that federal programs have been defrauded.

    It is the latest in a series of legal actions that started in 2015
    after Texas’s health officials used footage from the activist’s hidden-camera recordings as a basis to expel Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

    The activist and his allies claimed the videos showed Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue and endangering pregnant people’s health.

    Planned Parenthood repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Investigations in multiple states triggered by the video resulted in no disciplinary action against the healthcare provider.

    The US government
    – the source of 90% of the Medicaid funds paid to Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas
    – disputes that Planned Parenthood owes the federal government money.

    Federal officials say in a court filing that they found no evidence that Planned Parenthood had improperly billed for its services
    and that they found no reason Planned Parenthood should have been removed from Medicaid.

    Experts in healthcare law expected the case to be dismissed quickly.

    Yet none of these facts are as important to understanding the significance of this case as knowing where it was filed:
    in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas
    – home to zero Planned Parenthood clinics.

    This wasn’t an accident.

    The US district court in Amarillo is under the purview of the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    making it likely that any upward appeals in Planned Parenthood’s case would be heard in the hard-right appeals court,
    including by judges appointed by Trump or other conservative stalwarts like Jones.

    And by the time the Planned Parenthood case was filed, Kacsmaryk
    – that young attorney on stage making introductions at the Federalist Society event in Texas
    – had been serving as the federal district court judge for Amarillo for nearly two years.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  18. The Maga legal networks that could 💥topple Planned Parenthood 💥and gut women’s healthcare:

    In the second year of Donald Trump’s presidency,
    a young lawyer with crisply shorn blond hair approached the podium at a gathering for Texas members of the Federalist Society,
    a conservative legal group that wields immense power in the US judicial system.

    As vice-president of the group’s Fort Worth chapter, #Matthew #Kacsmaryk had the honor of presenting the first speaker.

    “We are blessed to have Judge #Edith #Jones,” Kacsmaryk announced.

    Jones, a longtime judge on the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    stepped on stage to introduce the evening’s guest, her friend,
    the supreme court justice #Clarence #Thomas.
    In her introduction, Jones also hailed the four new conservative judges Trump had appointed to join her on the appeals court.

    “They’ve raised the bar for the fifth circuit since I got on,” she said. “And that’s thanks to the #Federalist #Society, to Leonard.”

    #Leonard #Leo needed no last name in his introduction to this crowd
    as he took his seat in a black leather chair across from Thomas.

    The justice was the featured speaker
    but Leo may have been the most important person in the American legal system in that room
    – a conservative activist who had built the Federalist Society into a political powerhouse
    and helped Trump create the supreme court majority that,
    in 2022, erased federal protections for abortion.

    His influence continues to be on display now in one of the most consequential cases moving through the American legal system
    – one that seeks to strike another blow to abortion rights
    💥and could possibly bankrupt Planned Parenthood,
    one of the nation’s leading providers of healthcare for women.

    It’s a lawsuit that has been filed by an anti-abortion activist tied to Leo and heard by judges
    – from the lower courts to the fifth circuit appeals court
    – who are also linked to Leo

    Three of the people on the stage at the Federalist Society event in Fort Worth in 2018
    – Kacsmaryk, Jones and Leo
    – have all played key roles in the case.

    Though the stakes in this case couldn’t be higher for one of the nation’s oldest healthcare providers,
    it is about more than abortion or healthcare.

    The lawsuit is a parable about Leo’s power amid a presidential election season
    whose outcome will probably determine to what extent Leo will continue to reshape the makeup and ideology of the nation’s courts.

    The case was filed in February 2021 by an anti-abortion activist
    who had conducted what he described as an
    “extensive undercover investigation” of the organization.

    He accuses Planned Parenthood of fraud
    – claiming that it owes $1.8bn in fines, fees and reimbursements to the Medicaid program.

    It’s an amount that could force the 108-year-old nonprofit healthcare provider to shutter clinics across the country.

    The lawsuit is titled
    "USA v Planned Parenthood"
    because it was filed under a federal whistleblower law
    that allows citizens to sue on behalf of the US government
    over allegations that federal programs have been defrauded.

    It is the latest in a series of legal actions that started in 2015
    after Texas’s health officials used footage from the activist’s hidden-camera recordings as a basis to expel Planned Parenthood from the state’s Medicaid program.

    The activist and his allies claimed the videos showed Planned Parenthood was illegally selling fetal tissue and endangering pregnant people’s health.

    Planned Parenthood repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

    Investigations in multiple states triggered by the video resulted in no disciplinary action against the healthcare provider.

    The US government
    – the source of 90% of the Medicaid funds paid to Planned Parenthood clinics in Texas
    – disputes that Planned Parenthood owes the federal government money.

    Federal officials say in a court filing that they found no evidence that Planned Parenthood had improperly billed for its services
    and that they found no reason Planned Parenthood should have been removed from Medicaid.

    Experts in healthcare law expected the case to be dismissed quickly.

    Yet none of these facts are as important to understanding the significance of this case as knowing where it was filed:
    in the federal courthouse in Amarillo, Texas
    – home to zero Planned Parenthood clinics.

    This wasn’t an accident.

    The US district court in Amarillo is under the purview of the US fifth circuit court of appeals,
    making it likely that any upward appeals in Planned Parenthood’s case would be heard in the hard-right appeals court,
    including by judges appointed by Trump or other conservative stalwarts like Jones.

    And by the time the Planned Parenthood case was filed, Kacsmaryk
    – that young attorney on stage making introductions at the Federalist Society event in Texas
    – had been serving as the federal district court judge for Amarillo for nearly two years.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  19. Trump and guns loom large as scandal-hit supreme court gets back to work

    The US Supreme Court embarks on its next nine-month term on Monday

    with public confidence in the court still reeling
    following recent extreme rulings
    compounded by the ethically dubious conduct of some justices.

    As the new term begins, the dust cloud kicked up by controversial opinions delivered at the end of the last term has barely settled.

    In particular, the July decision of the six-to-three rightwing majority to grant Donald Trump substantial #immunity from criminal prosecution for actions he carried out as president astonished even seasoned observers of the country’s top court.

    “That ruling was shocking, it was a rip to the constitutional fabric, and it gave vast new power to presidents to break the law,”
    Michael Waldman said at a recent webinar by the Brennan Center, the progressive thinktank, of which he is president.

    Despite the ructions caused by its actions, the increasingly hard-right court shows no signs of reining itself in.
    The first big case of the new term that will be addressed on Tuesday takes the justices back into the vexed area of #gun #controls.
    The case, 💥Garland v VanDerStok💥, concerns “#ghost #guns”,
    kits that can be assembled at home that are increasingly used to skirt around basic gun regulations
    including serial numbers and federal background checks.

    ➡️The Biden administration imposed restrictions on ghost guns in 2022 that were promptly blocked by a lower court, sending the case to the supreme court for adjudication.

    The case has potentially huge implications for gun control.
    ⚠️A decision that exempts ghost guns from basic regulations would punch a giant loophole in America’s already lax approach to firearms.

    As it is, US courts are wrestling with chaos and confusion in the wake of recent supreme court gun rulings.

    In his #Bruen judgment, the hard-right justice
    🔥 #Clarence #Thomas invented a new rule that any handgun ban must comport with the country’s “history and tradition”
    – a phrase which has set federal judges scrambling to try to make sense of it.

    The ghost gun case has emerged out of the fifth circuit court of appeals,
    which has the distinction of being the #most #rightwing appeals court in the US.
    Six out of its 17 active judges were appointed by Trump.

    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/o

  20. #Leonard #Leo was born on Long Island in the mid-sixties.
    When he was only a toddler, he lost his father — a pastry chef — to cancer.
    At the age of five, his mother remarried, and the Leos moved to New Jersey, where he attended Monroe Township High School.
    Leo was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed”
    a distinction he shared with classmate #Sally #Schroeder, his future wife.
    In the yearbook, the two were shown sitting next to each other, holding wads of cash and with dollar signs painted on their glasses.
    He was so effective at raising money for his senior prom that his classmates nicknamed him the “Moneybags Kid.” 
    Throughout his life, he remained steeped in the deep Catholicism of his grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Italy as a teenager;
    his grandparents attended Mass daily, and encouraged the young Leonard to follow their lead.
    After high school, Leo went to Cornell University, studying under a group of conservative academics in the university’s department of government
    and with the wider national backdrop of iconoclastic scholars led by Yale University’s #Robert #Bork and the University of Chicago’s #Antonin #Scalia, who were building the case for a novel legal doctrine known as #originalism.
    He got a series of internships in Washington, D.C., during the final years of the Reagan administration,
    then returned to Cornell to join the law school, where in 1989 he founded the local chapter of a student organization called the #Federalist #Society.
    That group had been set up by three conservative-leaning students from Yale, Harvard, and Chicago seven years earlier as a way of challenging what they saw as the dominance of liberal ideology at the country’s law schools. 

    After graduating, Leo married Sally, who had been raised as a Protestant but who used to go to Catholic Mass five times every weekend because she played the organ.

    She decided to convert not long before her marriage.

    The couple moved back to Washington, where Leo clerked for a judge on the court of appeals and became close with another appellate judge who had recently been appointed to the D.C. circuit
    — a man from Georgia called #Clarence #Thomas,
    who had toyed with becoming a Catholic priest.

    Despite being ten years older and from much more humble origins,
    Thomas shared Leo’s conservative outlook, and the two soon developed a deep friendship that would endure for many years.

    During this period, Leo was asked by the Federalist Society to become its first employee
    — although he delayed his start date so that he could help his good friend Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court.

    Despite accusations of sexual harassment hanging over him, Thomas won Senate confirmation by a slim margin.

    It would be the first in a series of fights in which Leo would have to put aside the teachings of his Christian faith as he focused on the greater goal of pushing through a conservative revolution of the courts and of society at large.
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

  21. #Leonard #Leo was born on Long Island in the mid-sixties.
    When he was only a toddler, he lost his father — a pastry chef — to cancer.
    At the age of five, his mother remarried, and the Leos moved to New Jersey, where he attended Monroe Township High School.
    Leo was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed”
    a distinction he shared with classmate #Sally #Schroeder, his future wife.
    In the yearbook, the two were shown sitting next to each other, holding wads of cash and with dollar signs painted on their glasses.
    He was so effective at raising money for his senior prom that his classmates nicknamed him the “Moneybags Kid.” 
    Throughout his life, he remained steeped in the deep Catholicism of his grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Italy as a teenager;
    his grandparents attended Mass daily, and encouraged the young Leonard to follow their lead.
    After high school, Leo went to Cornell University, studying under a group of conservative academics in the university’s department of government
    and with the wider national backdrop of iconoclastic scholars led by Yale University’s #Robert #Bork and the University of Chicago’s #Antonin #Scalia, who were building the case for a novel legal doctrine known as #originalism.
    He got a series of internships in Washington, D.C., during the final years of the Reagan administration,
    then returned to Cornell to join the law school, where in 1989 he founded the local chapter of a student organization called the #Federalist #Society.
    That group had been set up by three conservative-leaning students from Yale, Harvard, and Chicago seven years earlier as a way of challenging what they saw as the dominance of liberal ideology at the country’s law schools. 

    After graduating, Leo married Sally, who had been raised as a Protestant but who used to go to Catholic Mass five times every weekend because she played the organ.

    She decided to convert not long before her marriage.

    The couple moved back to Washington, where Leo clerked for a judge on the court of appeals and became close with another appellate judge who had recently been appointed to the D.C. circuit
    — a man from Georgia called #Clarence #Thomas,
    who had toyed with becoming a Catholic priest.

    Despite being ten years older and from much more humble origins,
    Thomas shared Leo’s conservative outlook, and the two soon developed a deep friendship that would endure for many years.

    During this period, Leo was asked by the Federalist Society to become its first employee
    — although he delayed his start date so that he could help his good friend Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court.

    Despite accusations of sexual harassment hanging over him, Thomas won Senate confirmation by a slim margin.

    It would be the first in a series of fights in which Leo would have to put aside the teachings of his Christian faith as he focused on the greater goal of pushing through a conservative revolution of the courts and of society at large.
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

  22. #Leonard #Leo was born on Long Island in the mid-sixties.
    When he was only a toddler, he lost his father — a pastry chef — to cancer.
    At the age of five, his mother remarried, and the Leos moved to New Jersey, where he attended Monroe Township High School.
    Leo was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed”
    a distinction he shared with classmate #Sally #Schroeder, his future wife.
    In the yearbook, the two were shown sitting next to each other, holding wads of cash and with dollar signs painted on their glasses.
    He was so effective at raising money for his senior prom that his classmates nicknamed him the “Moneybags Kid.” 
    Throughout his life, he remained steeped in the deep Catholicism of his grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Italy as a teenager;
    his grandparents attended Mass daily, and encouraged the young Leonard to follow their lead.
    After high school, Leo went to Cornell University, studying under a group of conservative academics in the university’s department of government
    and with the wider national backdrop of iconoclastic scholars led by Yale University’s #Robert #Bork and the University of Chicago’s #Antonin #Scalia, who were building the case for a novel legal doctrine known as #originalism.
    He got a series of internships in Washington, D.C., during the final years of the Reagan administration,
    then returned to Cornell to join the law school, where in 1989 he founded the local chapter of a student organization called the #Federalist #Society.
    That group had been set up by three conservative-leaning students from Yale, Harvard, and Chicago seven years earlier as a way of challenging what they saw as the dominance of liberal ideology at the country’s law schools. 

    After graduating, Leo married Sally, who had been raised as a Protestant but who used to go to Catholic Mass five times every weekend because she played the organ.

    She decided to convert not long before her marriage.

    The couple moved back to Washington, where Leo clerked for a judge on the court of appeals and became close with another appellate judge who had recently been appointed to the D.C. circuit
    — a man from Georgia called #Clarence #Thomas,
    who had toyed with becoming a Catholic priest.

    Despite being ten years older and from much more humble origins,
    Thomas shared Leo’s conservative outlook, and the two soon developed a deep friendship that would endure for many years.

    During this period, Leo was asked by the Federalist Society to become its first employee
    — although he delayed his start date so that he could help his good friend Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court.

    Despite accusations of sexual harassment hanging over him, Thomas won Senate confirmation by a slim margin.

    It would be the first in a series of fights in which Leo would have to put aside the teachings of his Christian faith as he focused on the greater goal of pushing through a conservative revolution of the courts and of society at large.
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

  23. #Leonard #Leo was born on Long Island in the mid-sixties.
    When he was only a toddler, he lost his father — a pastry chef — to cancer.
    At the age of five, his mother remarried, and the Leos moved to New Jersey, where he attended Monroe Township High School.
    Leo was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed”
    a distinction he shared with classmate #Sally #Schroeder, his future wife.
    In the yearbook, the two were shown sitting next to each other, holding wads of cash and with dollar signs painted on their glasses.
    He was so effective at raising money for his senior prom that his classmates nicknamed him the “Moneybags Kid.” 
    Throughout his life, he remained steeped in the deep Catholicism of his grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Italy as a teenager;
    his grandparents attended Mass daily, and encouraged the young Leonard to follow their lead.
    After high school, Leo went to Cornell University, studying under a group of conservative academics in the university’s department of government
    and with the wider national backdrop of iconoclastic scholars led by Yale University’s #Robert #Bork and the University of Chicago’s #Antonin #Scalia, who were building the case for a novel legal doctrine known as #originalism.
    He got a series of internships in Washington, D.C., during the final years of the Reagan administration,
    then returned to Cornell to join the law school, where in 1989 he founded the local chapter of a student organization called the #Federalist #Society.
    That group had been set up by three conservative-leaning students from Yale, Harvard, and Chicago seven years earlier as a way of challenging what they saw as the dominance of liberal ideology at the country’s law schools. 

    After graduating, Leo married Sally, who had been raised as a Protestant but who used to go to Catholic Mass five times every weekend because she played the organ.

    She decided to convert not long before her marriage.

    The couple moved back to Washington, where Leo clerked for a judge on the court of appeals and became close with another appellate judge who had recently been appointed to the D.C. circuit
    — a man from Georgia called #Clarence #Thomas,
    who had toyed with becoming a Catholic priest.

    Despite being ten years older and from much more humble origins,
    Thomas shared Leo’s conservative outlook, and the two soon developed a deep friendship that would endure for many years.

    During this period, Leo was asked by the Federalist Society to become its first employee
    — although he delayed his start date so that he could help his good friend Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court.

    Despite accusations of sexual harassment hanging over him, Thomas won Senate confirmation by a slim margin.

    It would be the first in a series of fights in which Leo would have to put aside the teachings of his Christian faith as he focused on the greater goal of pushing through a conservative revolution of the courts and of society at large.
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

  24. #Leonard #Leo was born on Long Island in the mid-sixties.
    When he was only a toddler, he lost his father — a pastry chef — to cancer.
    At the age of five, his mother remarried, and the Leos moved to New Jersey, where he attended Monroe Township High School.
    Leo was chosen as the “Most Likely to Succeed”
    a distinction he shared with classmate #Sally #Schroeder, his future wife.
    In the yearbook, the two were shown sitting next to each other, holding wads of cash and with dollar signs painted on their glasses.
    He was so effective at raising money for his senior prom that his classmates nicknamed him the “Moneybags Kid.” 
    Throughout his life, he remained steeped in the deep Catholicism of his grandfather, who had emigrated to the United States from Italy as a teenager;
    his grandparents attended Mass daily, and encouraged the young Leonard to follow their lead.
    After high school, Leo went to Cornell University, studying under a group of conservative academics in the university’s department of government
    and with the wider national backdrop of iconoclastic scholars led by Yale University’s #Robert #Bork and the University of Chicago’s #Antonin #Scalia, who were building the case for a novel legal doctrine known as #originalism.
    He got a series of internships in Washington, D.C., during the final years of the Reagan administration,
    then returned to Cornell to join the law school, where in 1989 he founded the local chapter of a student organization called the #Federalist #Society.
    That group had been set up by three conservative-leaning students from Yale, Harvard, and Chicago seven years earlier as a way of challenging what they saw as the dominance of liberal ideology at the country’s law schools. 

    After graduating, Leo married Sally, who had been raised as a Protestant but who used to go to Catholic Mass five times every weekend because she played the organ.

    She decided to convert not long before her marriage.

    The couple moved back to Washington, where Leo clerked for a judge on the court of appeals and became close with another appellate judge who had recently been appointed to the D.C. circuit
    — a man from Georgia called #Clarence #Thomas,
    who had toyed with becoming a Catholic priest.

    Despite being ten years older and from much more humble origins,
    Thomas shared Leo’s conservative outlook, and the two soon developed a deep friendship that would endure for many years.

    During this period, Leo was asked by the Federalist Society to become its first employee
    — although he delayed his start date so that he could help his good friend Thomas through his contentious confirmation process for the Supreme Court.

    Despite accusations of sexual harassment hanging over him, Thomas won Senate confirmation by a slim margin.

    It would be the first in a series of fights in which Leo would have to put aside the teachings of his Christian faith as he focused on the greater goal of pushing through a conservative revolution of the courts and of society at large.
    rollingstone.com/politics/poli

  25. A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
    the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
    in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

    An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
    which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.

    The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.

    Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.

    Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.

    Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.

    The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
    suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.

    Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
    a former ambassador to Israel,
    an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
    and a former presidential homeland security adviser.

    Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

    The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.

    Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
    “spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”

    In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.

    She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
    —as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

    One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

    Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.

    thedailybeast.com/how-donald-t

  26. A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
    the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
    in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

    An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
    which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.

    The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.

    Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.

    Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.

    Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.

    The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
    suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.

    Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
    a former ambassador to Israel,
    an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
    and a former presidential homeland security adviser.

    Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

    The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.

    Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
    “spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”

    In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.

    She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
    —as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

    One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

    Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.

    thedailybeast.com/how-donald-t

  27. A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
    the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
    in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

    An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
    which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.

    The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.

    Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.

    Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.

    Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.

    The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
    suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.

    Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
    a former ambassador to Israel,
    an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
    and a former presidential homeland security adviser.

    Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

    The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.

    Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
    “spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”

    In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.

    She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
    —as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

    One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

    Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.

    thedailybeast.com/how-donald-t

  28. A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
    the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
    in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

    An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
    which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.

    The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.

    Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.

    Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.

    Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.

    The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
    suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.

    Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
    a former ambassador to Israel,
    an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
    and a former presidential homeland security adviser.

    Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

    The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.

    Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
    “spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”

    In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.

    She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
    —as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

    One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

    Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.

    thedailybeast.com/how-donald-t

  29. A team of Iranian hackers impersonated #Ginni #Thomas,
    the wife of conservative Supreme Court Justice #Clarence #Thomas,
    in an effort to extract information from people close to former President Donald Trump, CNN reported.

    An indictment unsealed on Friday alleges that the three Iranian men gained access to the email account of a Trump campaign official this summer,
    which allowed them to steal debate-preparation material and information on possible vice presidential candidates.

    The practice is known as “spear phishing” among hackers.

    Among the people whose accounts were compromised were #Roger #Stone, the veteran Republican dirty trickster previously pardoned by Trump before he left office.

    Between April and May 2024, email was used as part of a phishing campaign that targeted, among others, a former security adviser to a former president.

    Ginni Thomas was one of a number of identities fraudulently used by the hackers to target the Trump campaign.

    The others have not been named but the victims detailed by the Justice Department include a series which appear closely linked to Trump,
    suggesting that the use of names such as Ginni Thomas was a successful move by the Iranians.

    Among those who fell for the phishing scam were a former deputy director of the CIA,
    a former ambassador to Israel,
    an ex-State Department adviser who appears to have advised the failed Nikki Haley campaign for president,
    and a former presidential homeland security adviser.

    Masoud Jalili, Seyyed Ali Aghamiri and Yasar Balaghi face charges of identity theft and wire fraud.

    The indictment says they were acting on behalf of Iran’s #Islamic #Revolutionary #Guard Corps.

    Although Ginni Thomas is not mentioned by name in the indictment, it says that the hackers created a fake email using the identity of a
    “spouse of a sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justice.”

    In addition to being the wife of a Supreme Court justice, Thomas is a conservative activist.

    She made headlines for sending texts to Donald Trump’s then Chief of Staff #Mark #Meadows, on Jan. 6, 2021, urging him to overturn the election
    —as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

    One read, “Biden and the Left [are] attempting the greatest Heist of our History.”

    Thomas, a conservative firebrand, claims that she does not influence her husband.

    thedailybeast.com/how-donald-t

  30. David Brock on Clarence Thomas and supreme court hijack: ‘The original sin’

    #David #Brock once attacked #Anita #Hill,
    who accused #Clarence #Thomas of sexual harassment.

    ♦️His new book slams Thomas♦️

    Thirty years ago, David Brock made his name as a reporter with 🔸"The Real Anita Hill",
    a book attacking the woman who accused Clarence Thomas,
    George HW Bush’s second supreme court nominee,
    of sexual harassment.

    After tempestuous hearings, Thomas was confirmed.
    Brock
    – who memorably characterized Hill, a law professor, in sexist terms as “a little bit nutty and a little bit slutty”
    – was launched as a rightwing media star.

    Thirty years on, Thomas still sits on the court, the longest-serving hardliner on a bench tilted 6-3 to the right by three confirmations under Donald Trump.

    But Brock switched sides long ago, disillusioned by rightwing lies.

    He apologized for smearing Hill and eventually became a prominent Democratic operative, close to Bill and Hillary Clinton.

    He founded watchdogs and Super Pacs and kept on writing books.
    He dealt with his political conversion 20 years ago in 🔸"Blinded by the Right: the Conscience of an Ex-Conservative".

    Now, with🔸 "Stench: The Making of the Thomas Court and the Unmaking of America",
    he has returned to what he calls “the original sin” of the modern supreme court:
    “Thomas’s perjury to get on the court”
    and his allegedly untruthful answers to questions about his treatment of Hill and other women.
    theguardian.com/us-news/2024/s

  31. Samuel Alito accepted concert tickets from conservative German aristocrat

    #Samuel #Alito, the US supreme court justice, accepted $900 concert tickets from a Catholic German aristocrat known for her unabashed conservative views and ties to rightwing activists, his latest financial disclosure form reveals.

    #Princess #Gloria #von #Thurn #und #Taxis reportedly gifted the tickets to Alito and his wife to allow them to attend the Regensburg castle festival,
    an annual summer music extravaganza hosted at her 500-room castle in Bavaria.

    The princess, a descendant of princes of the Holy Roman empire, is noted for ties with #Steve #Bannon, a key supporter and former aide of #Donald #Trump, and connections to figures in the Catholic hierarchy opposed to Pope Francis.

    Her donation to Alito is set out in the justice’s annual financial disclosure report, which he filed late after requesting an extension.

    The declaration follows a series of controversies over the ethics of supreme court justices amid revelations that some, including Alito himself and Justice #Clarence #Thomas, have accepted gifts from wealthy benefactors without disclosing on mandatory forms.

    Alito has been at the centre of reports that he accepted a private jet free travel gift for a luxury salmon fishing trip from a conservative billionaire who had cases pending before the supreme court.

    He previously met von Thurn und Taxis along with fellow justice #Brett #Kavanaugh when she visited the supreme court in 2019 along with #Cardinal #Gerhard #Ludwig #Müller, who was dismissed from his position as head of the Catholic’s church’s doctrinal body by Pope Francis, and #Brian #Brown, a leading anti-LGBTQ+ activist.

    Von Thurn und Taxis’s palatial castle in Regensburg – the venue for the concert attended by Alito and his wife – has been mooted by Bannon as a potential venue for a 🔸European network of finishing schools for rightwing conservatives.
    After her reinvention as a conservative Catholic activist, she drew criticism in 2001 after saying on a television talkshow that the high rate of Aids in Africa was due, not to a lack of safe sex, but because
    “the Blacks like to copulate a lot”.
    She later tried to amend her remarks, saying Africans had a lot of sex due to the continent’s hot climate.

    theguardian.com/us-news/articl