FBI Special Agent Hal Neilson faced charges under 18 U.S.C. 1001, apparently because he reported abuse of individuals with Middle Eastern surnames by a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney after 9/11. Neilson was cleared of all charges in December 2010, and now has filed lawsuits against several individuals connected to what appears to be a blatantly political prosecution.
Is there irony in Clarence Thomas' attempt to skirt the law? Oh yes, on several levels. As we noted above, the U.S. Supreme Court already has found such behavior to be a felony, but when one of its own apparently violates the law, the court's machinery goes into protection mode. Reports POE:
Upon seeing the January 22, 2011 file stamp on Justice Thomas' amended forms, ProtectOurElections.org phoned officials at the Judicial Conference to determine if receiving such materials on Saturday is normal or if special accommodations were made for Justice Thomas. The receptionist who answered confirmed that the Financial Disclosure office, like most federal offices, is closed for public business on Saturday. No one else at the office would explain whether Justice Thomas received special treatment by being allowed to file his amendments when the office was closed. Reporter Brad Friedman from The Brad Blog also called the office and received the same information.
More irony comes when you consider that Thomas and Antonin Scalia have positioned themselves as perhaps the foremost "strict constructionists" on the current court, meaning they insist on a literal interpretation of the law. A literal interpretation of 18 U.S.C. 1001 would indicate that Clarence Thomas committed a felony. But when the law is turned on him, Clarence Thomas doesn't seem to want it interpreted too literally.
The most important issue in the Thomas case, however, might be this: Evidence suggests that he deliberately set out to pervert the justice system, to hide the fact that he had massive conflicts of interests in certain cases of profound importance to U.S. citizens. In fact, the case has an obstruction-of-justice smell to it. Reports POE:
Kevin Zeese, attorney and spokesperson for ProtectOurElections.org, believes that Justice Thomas may have intentionally withheld the information in order to keep litigants from moving to disqualify him in cases where his wife's employment could cause a conflict of interest or where she could benefit from a decision. "Justice Thomas cast a critical vote in the Citizens United case allowing conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation and Liberty Central to raise millions of dollars in secret funds to support and elect conservative politicians," he said. "Had Justice Thomas disclosed that his wife worked for the Heritage Foundation, litigants may have had good cause to disqualify him from hearing that case. In fact, we are left to wonder if Justice Thomas knew that his wife was planning on leaving the Heritage Foundation to launch Liberty Central once Citizens United was decided. Clearly, she has benefitted personally from that decision."
As for Liberty Consulting Inc., POE has released a new video that indicates Virginia Thomas might be using the company as a front group to hide efforts to improperly influence both elections and the nation's highest court. The Washington Post reported last November that Thomas was stepping down at Liberty Central, another conservative advocacy group. The POE examines the curious ties between Liberty Central and Liberty Consulting and shows that the latter appears to be a shadow organization of some kind:
Virginia Thomas and Liberty Consulting Inc.
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