For years, Clarence Thomas has been showered with gifts. Flights on a billionaire’s private jet, lavish vacations cruising on his superyacht, summer stays at his Adirondacks compound, tuition for a child Thomas was raising, a quarter-million-dollar motorhome a wealthy friend paid for.

Those gifts were income, and income belongs on a tax return. Thomas treated them as nothing, and no public record shows he ever reported a dollar of it. Under Virginia law, leaving income that size off a return, if it was done to cheat the state, is a felony. The evidence is already public, and he could be charged on Monday.

Virginia law makes it a felony to file a state income tax return with a false statement on it, made with intent to defraud the Commonwealth. The statute is Virginia Code section 58.1-348, it carries up to five years in prison per count, and the clock has not run out on the returns Thomas filed for tax years 2020 through 2024. That is the whole case, and unlike everything else, it is a case a county prosecutor in Virginia has the plain authority to bring.

    • BeMoreCareful@lemmy.world
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      17 hours ago

      Idk, I’m not saying that Clarence Thomas doesn’t have it coming. It looks like he took bribes.

      I get kind of an ick about going after the black guy, when I doubt he was off on his own taking bribes and think it’s more of a structural issue.

      So, I’m not sure which would be more repellent doing nothing or doing something in this case.

      You do have to kind of admire the game though, which damnation would you prefer?

      • optimisticturtle@lemmy.world
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        14 hours ago

        I get kind of an ick about going after the black guy, when I doubt he was off on his own taking bribes and think it’s more of a structural issue.

        As a member of the black delegation, fuck that guy. We don’t claim him.

      • wewbull@feddit.uk
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        12 hours ago

        I get kind of an ick about going after the black guy

        Seriously‽ The guy is corrupt. The law applies to all no matter the skin colour, and he of all people should know that (as a supreme court judge).

      • ThePantser@sh.itjust.works
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        16 hours ago

        He’s the one that did it publicly and he’s an idiot for it. Gotta start somewhere with these Supreme Injustices. I fear if he’s impeached the replacement the orange one picks will be far worse, if that’s even possible.

      • rumba@lemmy.zip
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        11 hours ago

        Well he certainly had no problems going after the black guys. time for him to get what he gave