Conservative Activist Quietly Funneled Thousands to Clarence Thomas’ Wife: Report

Leonard Leo, a powerful judicial lobbyist known for his hardline conservative causes, discreetly arranged for the wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas to be paid tens of thousands of dollars for consulting work more than a decade ago, according to a new report from The Washington Post. The secret payouts were made with Leo specifying that Ginni Thomas’ name be left off the paperwork, at one point saying that the trail should make “no mention of Ginni, of course,” the newspaper reported. In January 2012, Leo instructed ally Kellyanne Conway to bill a nonprofit group he advised, then funnel the money to pay Ginni, according to documents obtained by the Post. In all, Ginni Thomas received at least $80,000 between the summer of 2011 and 2012 from Conway’s firm, though the exact nature of any work she did for the company or the Judicial Education Project is unclear. In a statement to the Post about why Ginni’s name was obscured, Leo said, “Knowing how disrespectful, malicious and gossipy people can be, I have always tried to protect the privacy of Justice Thomas and Ginni.”