SHOULD WE INCLUDE RUPERT MURDOCH ON THE LIST OF CLARENCE THOMAS'S BILLIONAIRE SUGAR DADDIES?

ProPublica has a new Clarence Thomas story that effectively establishes what seemed likely from the outlet's previous Thomas stories: that Thomas squeezed money out of right-wing billionaires by threatening to resign from the Supreme Court if they didn't pay for the lifestyle he wanted.

Here's Thomas in early 2000 on his way home from a Georgia resort, where he spoke at a right-wing conference:

He found himself seated next to a Republican member of Congress on the flight home. The two men talked, and the lawmaker left the conversation worried that Thomas might resign.

Congress should give Supreme Court justices a pay raise, Thomas told him. If lawmakers didn’t act, “one or more justices will leave soon” — maybe in the next year.

At the time, Thomas’ salary was $173,600, equivalent to over $300,000 today. But he was one of the least wealthy members of the court, and on multiple occasions in that period, he pushed for ways to make more money.

... in the years that followed, as ProPublica has reported, Thomas accepted a stream of gifts from friends and acquaintances that appears to be unparalleled in the modern history of the Supreme Court. Some defrayed living expenses large and small — private school tuition, vehicle batteries, tires. Other gifts from a coterie of ultrarich men supplemented his lifestyle, such as free international vacations on the private jet and superyacht of Dallas real estate billionaire Harlan Crow.

On the right, there was real concern about Thomas.

Thomas’ comments in 2000 were to Florida Rep. Cliff Stearns, a vocal conservative who’d been in Congress for 11 years and occasionally socialized with the justice. They set off a flurry of activity across the judiciary and Capitol Hill. “His importance as a conservative was paramount,” Stearns said in a recent interview. “We wanted to make sure he felt comfortable in his job and he was being paid properly.”

... Former Sen. Trent Lott, then the Republican Senate majority leader, recalled in a recent interview that there were serious concerns at the time that Thomas or other justices would leave.

Supreme Court justices' salaries are still very low compared to salaries at elite law firms in the private sector. But Thomas developed a network of sugar daddies -- not just Harlan Crow, but also "David Sokol, a former top executive at Berkshire Hathaway, and H. Wayne Huizenga, a billionaire who turned Blockbuster and Waste Management into national goliaths," as well as "oil baron Paul 'Tony' Novelly," ProPublica has previously reported.

But, based on the new story, let's not omit Rupert Murdoch from this list.

During his second decade on the court, Thomas’ financial situation appears to have markedly improved. In 2003, he received the first payments of a $1.5 million advance for his memoir, a record-breaking sum for justices at the time.

Who published this book, titled My Grandfather's Son? It was the book publisher Murdoch owned (and still owns), HarperCollins.

The book was published in 2007. A paperback edition is still in print, and an ebook and audiobook became available in 2021, yet the Daily Beast has noted that Thomas failed to declare any royalties from the book for at least fourteen years. He should have received at least a few small payments in that time -- unless Murdoch's company paid him such a large advance on his per-copy royalties that he's never received any additional money, which would mean the company overpaid for the book.

... judicial ethics experts tell The Daily Beast that even the most benign and plausible explanation—that the memoir simply hasn’t sold enough copies to “earn out” beyond his huge advance—raises ethics concerns that apply to the justices more broadly.

... The $1.5 million advance on royalties from HarperCollins towered over the previous book deals given to his peers on the bench. It was also the first major personal windfall for Thomas, who The New York Times reported was still one of the poorest justices even after the advance....

Ethics rules require justices to disclose any advances and royalties they receive above $200. Retired Justice Stephen Breyer’s final financial disclosure, covering 2022, includes $2,418.98 in royalty income from Penguin Random House, in addition to royalty income of $150,000 and about $42,000 from other works. On the same form ... [Neil] Gorsuch reported ... $308.44 in royalties from a 2009 academic work....

Still, Thomas has gone 14 years without reporting any royalties on a memoir that topped the charts....

Yes, My Grandfather's Son was a #1 New York Times bestseller, so I guess it wasn't crazy for HarperCollins to publish it, and pay big bucks for it.

Yet the book doesn't appear to have actually been profitable for Murdoch.

According to Publisher’s Weekly, Thomas had sold more than 242,000 copies of My Grandfather’s Son as of this August. That number bumps up against the magic 250,000 “earning out” mark floated earlier this year by Fix The Court’s Gabe Roth, a judicial reform advocate who has testified as an expert before the House and Senate.

If the book still hasn't "earned out" sixteen years after its publication date, and twenty years after it was signed up, it might be worth asking the reason for the overpayment to Thomas. If Rupert Murdoch just wanted to do Thomas a solid for services rendered from the bench, he wasn't the only right-wing billionaire so inclined.