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I'm a twittering fool: incoming thread on SCOTUS ethics, starting with a look at Antonin Scalia and ... wait for it ... his secret hunting society with roots the Czech Republic.
Put yourself in the place of a foreign or domestic enemy of democracy -- you have tons of money to spend ... there are nine judges on the bench. What is their vote worth to you? (mind you the Kochs’ network is estimated to have spent almost 1B in 2016).
The Justices of the Supreme Court, however, have no published code. They state that Congress cannot dictate one (or make SCOTUS adopt one). As a rule of thumb, judges only recuse themselves (voluntarily) where a case involves a past client or (maybe) a current business conflict.
If you like this kind of thing, I'd be honored if you'd give me a follow. Lawyer by trade. songwriter by passion. Record due for imminent release.
Justice Scalia (RIP) and Justice Thomas have both in the past been known to attend fundraisers hosted/controlled by the Kochs. As well as accepting assistance with travel that they have not disclosed. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/why-don-t-supreme-court-justices-have-ethics-code-n745236.
The Kochs are an issue. They fund CPAC. Scalia has been a speaker there. http://www.cpac.ca/en/programs/public-record/episodes/13600595. The events that led to flood of dark money into politics started there: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/03/10/dan-backer-campaign-finance-mccutcheon-supreme-court/6259863/.
Scalia supported virtually all of the attacks against limiting campaign contributions; loosened rules against public corruption, was VERY friendly to corporations. And he was on the bench from 1982 till his death in 2016.
Scalia hobnobbed with the Kochs; no doubt socialized with Dan Backer (who was the lawyer that introduced dark money, and now treasurer of wildly rich Right Wing political action committees funded by the Mercers and others.
As best I can tell in google - he only recused himself once (for making a public statement on a case before it reached SCOTUS) and famously refused to do so in a case involving his hunting buddy Dick Cheney. http://supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/scalias-refusal-to-recuse.html.
AND SPEAKING OF HUNTING (Y'all #teampatriot might interested in this @louisemensch @ericgarland, @20committee, @truefactsstated, @jamesfourm @aliasvaughn, @MollyMcKew, @counterchekist, @ushadrons @ninoandtito @karolcummins
The events of his death (I won’t say unfortunate) raise a thousand ethical red flags. I remember reading this article when it came out, and being concerned about ethics, but MY GOD it looks insane in 2018. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-scalia-spent-his-last-hours-with-members-of-this-secretive-society-of-elite-hunters/2016/02/24/1d77af38-db20-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html?utm_term=.d8b4ee0bf833
The first sentence is like WTF 101: when he died “at a West Texas ranch, he was among high-ranking members of an exclusive fraternity for hunters called the International Order of St. Hubertus, an Austrian society that dates back to the 1600s.”
WAPO won’t directly state Scalia was a member, but can confirm that many of the 35 other guests were. What is the Order? “Members of the worldwide, male-only society wear dark-green robes emblazoned with a large cross and the motto ... Honoring God by honoring His creatures”
I have barely scratched the surface of the Order of St. Hubertus, but I am pretty sure I am going to find that "creatures" include women and girls. And since "honoring" means hunting and fishing in the animal kingdom....
The Order includes “Cibolo Creek Ranch owner John Poindexter and C. Allen Foster, a prominent Washington lawyer who traveled to the ranch with Scalia by private plane, hold leadership positions within the Order.” I STRONGLY DOUBT SCALIA PAID FOR HIS PRIVATE PLANE TRIP.
The Members of this Order are apparently not hunting in a fashion that requires a lot of time in the gym. http://www.iosh-usa.com/about_us
And ... of course ... the US Order was founded at the Bohemian Club. https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2009/05/bohemian-grove200905
What the Bohemian Club ... oh lord ... “They see themselves as the moral underpinnings of America’s greatness ... Very few Jews have made it in, and even fewer blacks.”
Also a hotbed for the compromised: “Kissinger is a perennial favorite. His speech nine years ago, “Do We Need a Foreign Policy?,” Herbert Hoover, an enthusiastic Grover, called it “the greatest men’s party on earth.”
“Aside from the prostitutes who are rumored to be visited by randy Grovers at local bars and motels, it’s a guys-only affair, ...there's talk of buggery...particularly at Highlanders, perhaps simply because members wear kilts and nothing underneath.”
“Richard Nixon (a member of Cave Man camp), whose 1967 lakeside talk kicked off his successful run for the presidency, was caught on one of his Oval Office tapes describing the Grove as “the most faggy goddamned thing you could ever imagine.”
[Put's RIS hat on] .. I wonder if I can get some good kompromat at a giant woods party of dudes, booze prostitutes, in-the-closet homosexuality, kings of industry, politicians, and zero responsible women around? [packs bags].
Minor editorial aside -- I firmly believe that part of the reason that the RU/Trolls attack @HillaryClinton , @LouiseMensch , Merkel and strong women with such vengeance is because they don't do stupid shit like go to Club Bohemia - and therefore they cannot be controlled.
OK, back to Scalia for a second. HE DIED ACCEPTING FREE TRAVEL, ROOM AND BOARD IN AN EXCLUSIVE RESORT where super great people like Mick Jagger and Bruce Willis also stayed. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/02/17/justice-scalias-death-and-questions-about-who-pays-for-supreme-court-justices-to-visit-remote-resorts/?utm_term=.26403b698b21
He was definitely there with the 34 other people from the Order. “I did not pay for the Justice’s trip to Cibolo Creek Ranch,” Poindexter wrote in a brief email Tuesday. “He was an invited guest, along with a friend, just like 35 others.”
FREE STUFF - head on down to TX! “Poindexter added: “The Justice was treated no differently by me, as no one was charged for activities, room and board, beverages, etc. That is a 22-year policy.’’ (Guessing I wouldn't qualify, tho John?)
Ha Ha, what a knee slapper of a coincidence: ( @ericgarland ) Poindexter's Company was before SCOTUS the year before. "Last year, the Supreme Court declined to hear a case involving an age discrimination lawsuit filed against one of [Poindexter's Companies], court records show."
Also noted - Justice Roberts statement to Congress that it was not believed that Congress could impose ethics on SCOTUS.
OH. “more than 100 law professors nationwide asked Congress to give the Supreme Court an ethical code of conduct after it emerged that Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas had attended private political meetings sponsored by billionaire conservative donors David and Charles Koch.
Roberts adopts the Facebook “we’ll police ourselves” ethics plan: “I have complete confidence in the capability of my colleagues to determine when recusal is warranted.”
Back to Scalia and the Order - He took a private plane to the Ranch and “U.S. Marshals Service said that Scalia had declined a security detail while at the ranch.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-scalia-spent-his-last-hours-with-members-of-this-secretive-society-of-elite-hunters/2016/02/24/1d77af38-db20-11e5-891a-4ed04f4213e8_story.html?utm_term=.9f66c8023cc4.
He was with C. Allen Foster in the private plane - a big shot DC Lawyer. Foster is noted by WAPO for flying 40 of his family and friends to the Czech Republic for his 65th birthday. Czech Republic you say? https://patribotics.blog/2017/02/26/planespotting-michael-cohens-amazing-journey-louise-mensch/
In February 2016, when WAPO tried to contact him, his secretary said he was “traveling in Argentina.” What was up Feb 2016 Argentina? Hedge funds raping the nation. No clue as to whether those are connected. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/17/business/dealbook/a-spate-of-lawsuits-over-argentinas-debt.html?rref=collection%2Ftimestopic%2FArgentina&action=click&contentCollection=world®ion=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=152&pgtype=collection
I’ll sum up: 1) Scalia died taking free room and board at a ranch owned by a party before SCOTUS the year before; 2) he accepted free private travel; 3) he had a long history of questionable contacts with the Koch network; 4) he belonged to a secret man society with weird roots.
That summary is exactly what you would want if you wanted to bribe or compromise (or both) an important public official. Therefore I feel quite safe in concluding we need stronger rules for Justices - for our safety and theirs.
For my RIS experts - if you google "Order of hubertus pedophile" that looks to me like RU planting fake stories to confuse anyone that wants to do legit research? @20committee @JamesFourM @ninaandtito @LouiseMensch @traciemac_Bmore
So Scalia died corrupt. McConnell burned down the Senate to fill "Scalia's" seat with Gorsuch. Why? Well, here's Gorsuch owning a fishing resort with two underbosses of his billionaire political patron: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/14/us/politics/neil-gorsuch-supreme-court.html
And here he is giving a speech at an event at the Trump hotel for the benefit of an org trying to destroy public unions with litigation heading for SCOTUS https://washingtonmonthly.com/2017/09/29/is-neil-gorsuch-corrupt/
And of course he favors corporations over people and is weak on public corruption. https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2017/02/21/neil-gorsuch-always-sides-with-big-business-big-donors-and-big-bosses/?utm_term=.2781a2f64187
All right. That's enough for tonight. When we win Election 2018 and start clearing out the the treasonweasels from the WH on down, let's not forget the importance of requiring judicial ethics, especially at the SCOTUS level
