Clarence Thomas’s ethical lapses, his connection to prostitution rings, and remembering Anita Hill
For decades, Justice Clarence Thomas has secretly accepted luxury trips from a major Republican donor, Harlan Crow... | The Crow Chronicles, Part One
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has come under fire for accepting, and not reporting, dozens of luxurious trips paid for by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow. Some estimate that the dollar value of just one of these gifts exceeds $500,000. That means millions of dollars of what I will politely refer to as bribes.
Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) slammed ProPublica, who broke the story, as a “Left-Leaning” website. It failed to mention that the website was founded by Richard Tofel, former WSJ assistant publisher and Paul Steiger, former WSJ managing editor.
Perhaps the real reason WSJ pushed so hard to squash the revelations about Thomas’s grifts…I mean gifts…is that people will be inclined to look deeper into Harlan.
Turns out that Harlan Crow’s brother, Trammell Crow Jr, who Sarah Ferguson recently struck up a friendship with, is currently accused of financing a sex trafficking ring. Ferguson is Prince Andrew’s ex-wife, who, as you may recall accepted money from Jeffrey Epstein. Two women, identified as Julia Hubbard and Kayla Goedinghaus, are suing Crow who allege they were sexually abused in a trafficking ring for which he provided “essential financial assistance”.
Seems like the Duke and Duchess of York are now steeped into yet another sex scandal—which really looks bad because we all know Prince Andrew settled the rape allegations lawsuit with Virginia Giuffre last year.
But, wait, there’s another startling connection with really famous madams.
In 1990, Robert Trammell Crow, the eldest of the Crow offspring, found himself in the middle of a contentious divorce from his Hollywood starlet wife, Emilia. During one of the more dramatic courtroom scenes, Bob’s attorney, Jerome Goldberg, asked her, “Isn’t it true that you were introduced by a woman sometimes known as Madam Alex?” Her quick reply was, “Yes.”
According to court records Bob was a cocaine addict who overdosed in 1985 and lapsed into a coma. It was also revealed that he was regular client of the famed Madam Alex’s prostitution ring.
Elizabeth Adams known as Madam Alex operated a prostitution ring in Beverly Hills for more than 20 years. During her peak she had about 150 women working for her.
Two other well-known madams, Heidi Fleiss and Sidney Biddle Barrows (known as the ‘Mayflower Madam’) also worked with Adams.
Heidi Fleiss was one of Jeffrey Epstein’s friends. Small world.
And before wrapping up on Clarence Thomas’s friends with ties to sex trafficking, I wish to remind you of Anita Hill.
In 1991 Anita Hill, a law professor at the University of Oklahoma, accused Clarence Thomas (who had been nominated by President George H.W. Bush to the Supreme Court) of having sexually harassed her ten years earlier when she worked as his assistant. Hill testified in front of the Senate Judiciary Committee (comprised of 14 senators—all men) in excruciating detail. I’ll summarize:
During the time she worked for Thomas, and even for some time after, she claimed he pressured her for dinner dates, often made remarks of a sexual nature, described sex scenes he’d seen in porn films—some of which involved animals, and boasted about his sexual prowess. That’s not all. There’s the coke can and the pubic hair story. Seriously.
Despite Hill’s raw and painful testimony, the Senate voted 52-48 on October 15, 1991, and confirmed Thomas as an associate justice of the Supreme Court.
2023 Copyright Kirby Sommers
Update April 10, 2023: This article is now part one of my series ‘The Crow Chronicles’.
Part Two is here.
Part Three is here.
And Joe Biden chaired the Senate Judiciary Committee. It was disgusting what they put her through.
I am looking forward to your articles on the Thomas connection to the "Franklin" case. I felt sorry for him when he uttered that line about being subjected to an "electronic lynching" when it looked like the Anita Hill was about to sink his nomination.