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Late night host John Oliver has offered to pay Clarence Thomas $1 million a year – as well as give him a $2 million tour bus – if the Republican justice resigns from the US Supreme Court.
Oliver made the proposal on Sunday's episode of his HBO show Last Week Tonight, saying the Supreme Court justice had 30 days to accept it or it would expire.
The British-born progressive comedian's offer came after a series of media investigations in previous months established that Thomas failed to disclose that his political benefactors bought him lavish holiday trips and real estate for his mother. Thomas also failed to reveal – as required – that he allowed a family member's school fees to be paid and that he had been granted a loan to purchase a luxury coach, all after openly complaining about the need to increase the salaries of the judges of the Supreme Court.
As a result, Thomas's impartiality came into question after he sided with the controversial ruling that eliminated federal abortion rights once granted in Roe v Wade.
He also recently heard arguments about whether Donald Trump can be removed from state ballots in the presidential election after the former president's supporters – who he told to “fight like hell” – organized the January 6 attack on the Capitol in United States in Washington DC. Thomas resisted pressure to recuse himself from matters related to the Capitol attack, even though his wife, Ginni Thomas, is a conservative political activist who has supported false claims by Trump and his supporters that the 2020 election was stolen from him. lost to Joe Biden. – which in turn prompted January 6.
Oliver alluded to all of those circumstances when he extended his lucrative offer to Thomas, saying: “There's a lot on your plate right now, from stripping women of their rights to hearing the January 6 cases… and you deserve a break, you know, far from pettiness. from Washington. “So you get to be around normal people whose lives you clearly made worse for decades.”
The host suggested that Thomas could upgrade his “favorite mode of travel” by signing a contract that requires him to resign from the Supreme Court in exchange for $1 million annually from Oliver along with the tour bus, which is equipped with a full-size bed. king. , a fireplace and four televisions.
Oliver joked that Thomas possibly feared that making such a trade might attract negative judgment from one of his biggest benefactors: Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who was reported to have maintained a private collection of Nazi memorabilia that included a pair of paintings of Adolf Hitler. .
But Oliver said, “That's the beauty of friendship, Clarence. If they are true friends, they will love you no matter what your job is. So I guess this could be the perfect way to find out who your real friends really are.
“So that's the offer: $1 million a year, Clarence. And a new condo on wheels. And all you have to do… is sign the contract and get the hell out of the Supreme Court,” Oliver said. “The clock starts now: 30 days, Clarence. Let's do it!”
The annual salary of Supreme Court justices, whose appointments are for life, is $298,500.
Neither Thomas nor the Supreme Court immediately commented publicly on Oliver's offer. Oliver acknowledged that he could end up doing “stand-up comedy tours… for years” to pay for Thomas' retirement if the judge accepts the proposal.
The ultraconservative is the longest-serving member of a Supreme Court dominated 6-3 by right-wingers. Thomas has been there since his confirmation in 1991, which was marked by the testimony of Anita Hill, who accused him of sexual harassment while he supervised her in two separate jobs, at the U.S. Department of Education and at the Equal Opportunity Commission. in Employment.
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