“Favoritism” or Nepotism on the Supreme Court?

Steve Eder and Abbie VanSickle wrote an excellent report on Crystal Clanton, who is Justice Clarence Thomas’s “adopted daughter” and new law clerk. She worked for Ginni Thomas at her lobbying firm, Liberty Consulting when Ginni Thomas trafficked in the most bizarre conspiracy theories.

The federal judicial code of conduct — which the Supreme Court is not bound to follow — advises judges to avoid “favoritism” and to “exercise the power of appointment fairly and only on the basis of merit.” A 2016 advisory opinion cautioned against a judge’s giving “the appearance that someone may gain an advantage” in hiring because of the person’s “broader connections to a judge.”

Clanton was forced to resign from the alt-right Turning Point USA, a MAGA group, after she was wrote racist messages, including a text that said: “I HATE BLACK PEOPLE.”

Clanton told The New Yorker that she doesn’t “recall” sending the racist messages.