r/politics • u/TimesandSundayTimes ✔ Verified • 25d ago

Clarence Thomas: I should have declared free holidays from billionaire Paywall

https://www.thetimes.com/world/us-world/article/clarence-thomas-i-should-have-declared-free-holidays-from-billionaire-7ngkc3hxj
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u/slapnowski 25d ago

No. Fuck declaring them, he shouldn’t have accepted them in the first place. It’s insane that as a nurse I can’t accept a gift from a patient I’ve cared for, but one of the most influential judges in the country (world even?) can legally be bribed.

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u/Primordial_Cumquat 25d ago

The VA physical therapist who worked on me helped me finally get to a pain-free night’s worth of sleep. As a way to say thank you, I tried dropping off a donut tray with some bags of coffee I was told it constituted a gift over the limit and they couldn’t take it.

It is beyond frustrating that a Supreme Court justice would 1) accept, and 2) later say that they should have reported gifts from a billionaire. Fuck these people.

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u/Revolutionary_Air_40 25d ago

When I last worked for a huge private-sector company that had a division with some federal contracts, no one anywhere in the company could accept anything worth $25 or more, even a boss buying you lunch. If someone dropped off a donut tray and coffee that didn't get refused on the way into the building, it was an approved move to set it out in a break area, etc. for everyone to share. We did not have guidance though for how to widely share seats on private planes, hunting expeditions, etc.

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u/Funny-Mission-2937 25d ago

my wife works for the feds in land management.  nothing crazy, she supervises building maintenance, like the people who build campground signs and pump the toilets and whatnot. they are not allowed to buy coffee with their budget, they are not allowed to buy lunch for their coworkers or bring in donuts if it is over $25. it is literally illegal for me to work at like half the businesses in our community because they all require permits for work they do on public lands.  literally if somebody asked me to give them a ride to a trailhead and gave me gas money, she could technically get fired for that.