Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

Giving up is unforgivable.

When I decide to be condescending, you won’t have to dream up a fantasy about it.

“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

Come on, man.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

Of course you can have champagne before noon. That’s why orange juice was invented.

It’s always darkest before the other shoe drops.

Everything is totally normal and fine!!!

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Bark louder, little dog.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

Let there be snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / ProPublica: Now Here’s a Tip Line I Can Get Behind!

ProPublica: Now Here’s a Tip Line I Can Get Behind!

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ProPublica

An email from a reader helped a team of ProPublica reporters uncover secret tuition payments Harlan Crow made for a family member of Clarence Thomas. Now we’re looking for tips on the election, and you can help.

Excerpts from the story:

A few hours after we published a story on the luxury travel a billionaire provided to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, the email arrived in my inbox.

A reader had tapped out a single sentence on their iPhone and hit send: We should look, it said, at a relative Thomas had taken in and raised as a son. The reader informed me that Harlan Crow, the same politically connected billionaire who had bankrolled the justice’s travels around the globe, had also paid private school tuition for the relative.

My colleagues and I chased down the tip; a key break came when we found direct evidence of the billionaire’s tuition payments in some bankruptcy filings for one of the private schools in question. As we reported in the resulting story a few weeks later, the billionaire had paid roughly $100,000 for private school tuition, essentially a gift of cash to a sitting Supreme Court justice.

Crow’s office told us that he “has long been passionate about the importance of quality education and giving back to those less fortunate.” Thomas didn’t respond to questions for the story. On Friday, the justice acknowledged for the first time in a new financial disclosure filing that he should have publicly reported two free vacations he received from Crow.

Going from a tip or rumor to a confirmed story can take weeks or months of reporting, of course. That’s especially true because I focus on the rich and powerful: people, companies and organizations that use money and influence to shield themselves from scrutiny. My ability to home in on those important stories relies on hearing from people like you.

Right now I’m reporting on the election. There’s no shortage of political coverage, but I’m still convinced there are important stories about wrongdoing that haven’t been told yet. I’m interested in the world of Donald Trump — his campaign, businesses and the people around him — as well as the broader 2024 political scene. Tips about other candidates, Democrats and Republicans, are also welcome.

Now Here's a Tip Line I Can Get Behind!

I would rat these people out in a heartbeat, and no one would even need to pay me $10,000.

Open thread.

Reader Interactions

88Comments

  3. 3.

    TBone

    Reposting. Demand term limits!  Not a money beg or an Internet petition.  Take a moment and sign the letter, please.

    https://act.americanprogress.org/page/68031/petition/1?cclt=Ca_30~Or_1~Pr_11~IA_A-1

    The Center for American Progress is an independent, nonpartisan policy institute that is dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through bold, progressive ideas, as well as strong leadership and concerted action. Our aim is not just to change the conversation, but to change the country.

    We develop new policy ideas, challenge the media to cover the issues that truly matter, and shape the national debate. With policy teams from a number of disciplines and major issue areas, CAP applies creative approaches to develop ideas for policymakers that lead to real change. Our extensive communication and outreach efforts allow us to adapt to a rapidly changing media landscape and move our ideas aggressively in the national policy debate.

  4. 4.

    TBone

    Hone. Home.

    Facepalm.

    Can’t help it, I was trained to proofread although autocorrect doesn’t know that.

  5. 5.

    trollhattan

    It’s all fun and games until your offspring catch the most communicable disease known.

    Two Yolo County children were diagnosed this month with measles, marking the county’s first cases in nearly a decade, county officials said Friday. The children recently returned from international travel and became ill with the disease, according to a news release by Yolo County health officials.

    The patients were not vaccinated for the disease and are recovering at home with mild symptoms, the county’s health agency said. Officials said the children visited a Kaiser Permanente hospital and pediatric clinic while contagious with the disease four total times over the span of a week.

    The last confirmed case of measles in Yolo County had been in 2015, county officials said. The two recent cases mark California’s tenth and 11th cases in 2024. In May, at least 200 people were exposed to measles after an infected child visited UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.

    According to data from the California Department of Public Health, measles cases are increasing after four consecutive years of relatively low case numbers. The state saw four cases of the disease in 2023, while 2020 had five diagnoses. There were no diagnosed cases of measles in the state 2021 or 2022, which was also the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article289452740.html#storylink=cpy

  6. 6.

    Another Scott

    @TBone:

    I saw that too. :-) But…

    Grammarist.com

    I suppose that it’s another example of technology affecting language. E.g. homing beacons, etc.

    Language is weird.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  8. 8.

    TBone

    @Another Scott: I’ll accept it then.  Only because of your endorsement, though.  Who says a stubborn, old mule can’t learn new tricks?  I draw the line at the Oxford comma.  😆

  12. 12.

    Josie

    Thanks for front paging this, WaterGirl. Who knows? There are tons of people who read this blog. If just one knows something interesting and passes it on to Justin, it could be helpful. Every little bit we can do is important.

  13. 13.

    suzanne

    I assume the relative is the same grand-nephew for whom Crow paid for private schooling?

  14. 14.

    West of the Rockies

    Thomas and his wife Ms. Piggy are such greedy, entitled creatures.  Just heinous.

  19. 19.

    Another Scott

    Indeed, ProPublica does the work.

    Meanwhile, …

    Pwnallthethings
    Link

    Rs: We gotta put biblical rules in schools
    Me: Holy shit! Like a debt jubilee every 7 years?
    Rs: Haha, no, not that one
    Me: like “you shall also love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt”?
    Rs: Hahaha not that one either
    Me: so, uh, which rules exactly?
    Rs: Oh, you know the ones

    Jun 19, 2024, 23:02

    💯

    It’s all performative.

    Eyes on the prizes.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  20. 20.

    Urza

    @TBone: This is standard conservative practice to disown the relatives that disappoint them.  Even easier when its not an actual blood relative.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    @Josie:  That’s howI feel, too.  ProPublica is making waves, we can at least send out ripples, cross our fingers, and see what happens.

    No part is too small.  We never know what can make a difference.

  24. 24.

    JaySinWA

    @trollhattan: Measles in the appropriately named Yolo county

    ETA you only live once, Why not experience age old deadly diseases and spread the joy around.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    @Baud: Gosh, I was afraid I might have pissed you off and there might be a political fundraising scandal headed our way. :-)

    Good that it’s just the Baud campaign.  That guy is shady!

  27. 27.

    TBone

    @Urza: yup.  In this case, it is a blood relative. The grandson of Thomas’s sister. Raised like his own son, he said!

  30. 30.

    emjayay

    Here’s hoping for more dirt on the Thomases. Not that anything seems to make any difference. Maybe a live boy or a dead girl would do it

    That Florida Don’t Say Gay and Ban Books We Don’t Like and Also Drag Queens couple in Florida were found with a live girl and hardly missed a beat, proving the wisdom of that one.

  33. 33.

    JaySinWA

     no one would even need to pay me $10,000.

    I should hope not, but I didn’t see any indications of a bounty for tips to Propublica. Were did this come from?

  35. 35.

    TBone

    @NotMax: 😆😘oh my word, my Gramps smoked those, don’t know if it was that brand but they had plastic filter tips!  By the way, I called someone a bumptious feist the other day.  😆

  37. 37.

    wjca

    @Baud: Already sent them several leads about potential scandals in the Baud! 20XX! campaign.

    Anything that gets your name out there is all to the good, right?

  39. 39.

    wjca

    @TBone: In this case, it is a blood relative. The grandson of Thomas’s sister. Raised like his own son, he said!

    Such a study in contrasts between how he treats his “son” when the kid got in trouble.  Vs how Biden is dealing with his son being in legal trouble.  “Family values” on display!

  40. 40.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    @Baud: Already sent them several leads about potential scandals in the Baud! 20XX! campaign.

    Some mysterious donor tried to grift you free pants?

    (Totally destroying the pants free ethos of the Baud 20XX! campaign)

  43. 43.

    Ruckus

    @Baud:

    They should all be quarantined in RFK Jr.’s home.

    That strikes me as almost cruel and usual punishment…..

  47. 47.

    wjca

    @Ruckus: They should all be quarantined in RFK Jr.’s home.

    That strikes me as almost cruel and usual punishment…..

    For the children, who are innocent victims here.  It’s not like they chose to have parents who are morons.

  49. 49.

    Jackie

    @suzanne: Yup. And is currently sitting in jail on drug related charges. Clarence and Ginny apparently disowned him several years ago – unlike Joe and Jill, who have fully supported Hunter throughout his tribulations.

  50. 50.

    JaySinWA

    @WaterGirl: Ah, thanks. I would never have figured out that connection.

    Though oddly enough I was thinking yesterday that maybe we could weaponize ratting out real crimes using the Texas model. Not a good idea in retrospect.

  53. 53.

    smith

    As night follows day: Good says the primary was rigged!

    “It’s getting crazier by the minute, more irregularities. More resistance to a true and accurate canvas. We got reports in the Lynchburg registrar’s office that they’ve been allowing my opponent to drop off ballots after election day that aren’t postmarked … The Ablemarle’s registrar’s office has fought us every step of the way … We also have resistance in the Buckingham registrar’s office. That’s the one that’s got allegations of corruption in the past with a hyper-biased Republican Chair who is overwhelmingly for my opponent.”

    …Good is claiming that fire alarms were pulled to steal his election:

    “You had 3 fire alarms pulled around the same time that closed down three precincts on election day for about 20 minutes … Those took place in Hanover County, Ablemarle County and Lynchburg City … The people who run those outfits are not for me, so we’re meeting some resistance.”

  54. 54.

    JaySinWA

    @Steeplejack:

    Broke the margin with the long @ address.

    Correct me if I’m wrong but long link addresses are a problem with naked links (typing or pasting the link in without a html hyperlink tag, but I believe if you enclose them using html or the insert link tool that they don’t bork the blog. Is this correct? I hate blind links, where I don’t know where they are taking me. Usually a browser will display them if I mouse over them, but in not always.

    At any rate when linking naked, size matters.

  59. 59.

    Another Scott

    @JaySinWA: (Most) Browsers wrap text at margins of FYWP things that they recognizes as URLs.  Some mobile browsers are broken and don’t do it right.  But browsers don’t wrap FYWP text that doesn’t have white space – so the text keeps going past the right margin.  Long @addresses in Mastodon and BlueSky, too many HaHas strung together, and all the rest cause problems in FYWP (breaks the right margin) unless one always remembers and fixes that before posting.

    Mea culpa.

    Sorry, Steep.

    (Thanks for the fix WG.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  63. 63.

    JaySinWA

    @Another Scott: True, I should have noted that long text of any sort without breaking spaces is a problem. Long links are just one common case.

    Size matters.

  64. 64.

    TBone

    @TBone:

    “Our position is straightforward; we just want to let our library patrons borrow and read the books we own, like any other library,” Freeland wrote, while arguing that the “potential repercussions of this lawsuit extend far beyond the Internet Archive” and publishers should just “let readers read.”

  65. 65.

    TBone

    Clarence Thomas and Bruen, explained.  Ignore the dumb headline.

    https://newrepublic.com/article/182972/end-clarence-thomas-court

    Gun restrictions could survive, Thomas explained, only if the government could identify a “historical analogue” for them from the founding era. This raised more questions than it answered. What counts as a “historical analogue”? How similar does a founding-era law need to be? How does one determine what falls within the nation’s “historical tradition” of regulating guns? How specific or generalized should judges be when weighing these questions?

  68. 68.

    Uncle Cosmo

    @TBone: Spell checkers are useless for choosing among homonyms. Grammar checkers are equally worthless when the two words in question are the same part of speech (here, both verbs).​​

    Human beans should have no expectation (zero, zip, zilch, rien, kein, niente) that software should be able to figure out what they actually want to say and then choose the proper word to say it. And yet most of us do & get pissed off when it doesn’t happen.

  69. 69.

    Parfigliano

    @smith: “It’s getting crazier by the minute, more irregularities. More resistance to a true and accurate canvas. We got reports in the Lynchburg registrar’s office that they’ve been allowing my opponent to drop off ballots after election day that aren’t postmarked … The Ablemarle’s registrar’s office has fought us every step of the way … We also have resistance in the Buckingham registrar’s office. That’s the one that’s got allegations of corruption in the past with a hyper-biased Republican Chair who is overwhelmingly for my opponent.”

     

    …Good is claiming that fire alarms were pulled to steal his election:

     

    “You had 3 fire alarms pulled around the same time that closed down three precincts on election day for about 20 minutes … Those took place in Hanover County, Ablemarle County and Lynchburg City … The people who run those outfits are not for me, so we’re meeting some resistance.”

    Ratfuckers fucking ratfuckers.  Hilarious.

  70. 70.

    smith

    @TBone: I guess Thomas wants to go back to Medieval times, when all able-bodied Englishmen were required to have access to longbows and practice their archery regularly.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    @JaySinWA:

    Only links that appear as plain text break the margin. “Naked” links that are clickable do not break the margin.

    The particular problem with Another Scott’s Bluesky posts is that the offending line is not a link, it’s someone’s @ address at Bluesky. And when it is long it can break the margin.

  74. 74.

    Tony G

    Uncle Clarence is wetting his beak so often that he must be wearing it out.  Thoughts and prayers!

  75. 75.

    TBone

    @evodevo: at the rate they’re just pulling shit outta their asses and calling it whatever flim flam tradition misnomer they can think of next, anyfuckingthing is possible.

  76. 76.

    Geminid

    @Parfigliano: Good’s just a sore loser. I think he took his Congressional seat for granted. At least, I never noticed Good showing up much around the district; he put his energy into Republican Caucus politics instead. I think Good could have won despite crossing Trump, if he’d just engaged and interacted more with his constituents during his first 3 years in office.

    Another factor in this primary was that 5th District Democrats didn’t just dislike Good; they hated him, enough for some of them to cross over and vote for Good’s opponent. That’s easy to do here because there is no party registration; you just choose which party’s ballot you want. I could never prove it, but I’d bet the number of Democrats voting for McGuire exceeded his winning margin.

  77. 77.

    TBone

    @smith: I actually had an antique medieval longbow that was a gift from my physician, a collector.  An ex “got” it when we parted ways.  Also, a very long, solid silver, intricately carved opium pipe disappeared that day.  I’m glad I spit in his eye right before the door hit him in the ass!  Sorry about the tangent 😂

    ETA Fuck Clarence Thomas!

  78. 78.

    Eyeroller

    @evodevo: I think the Grammarist was just making excuses for people screwing up the expression, then throwing up their hands and saying “well, language is what people say it is!”  I read Reddit and I see all sorts of “eggcorns” like wonder for wander (one that would never have occurred to me).

  80. 80.

    Eyeroller

    @evodevo: That was after the 18th century so apparently in the minds of “originalists” it doesn’t count.  Of course they have no good explanation for why our attitudes must remain in the 18th century forever even as technology has changed drastically.  The sainted Founders never expected we would do something so stupid.

  81. 81.

    Eyeroller

    @TBone: “Hone” can mean “develop a skill” but “hone in” doesn’t mean anything.  It’s just a mistake for “home in.”  Sure, we can accept that mistakes make their way into language, but we don’t have to make excuses about it.

    I’m really looking forward to LLMs trained on Reddit writing “I seen it” and “you might loose your chance” and “she was wondering around by the side of the road.”

  82. 82.

    JWR

    @TBone: From your link:

    Two years ago, Justice Clarence Thomas led an originalist revolution of sorts to expand the Second Amendment. The 6–3 decision that he authored in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen set up a narrow history-and-tradition test that invalidated any gun restriction without a “historical analogue.”

    WTF is he even talking about with this “historical analogue” nonsense? How would the old west town of Tombstone, where all guns were confiscated at the city limits, fit into this “historical analogue”

    ETA or what @evodevo said, and better than I.

  85. 85.

    TBone

    @JWR: We have what are called “black powder shoots” in these here hills of PA.  An excuse for cosplay.  I wish Uncle Thomas would attend one to see who gets out alive.  It won’t be the Black guy.  Alternatively, an school long gun should blow up in his face.  Backfire!

  87. 87.

    wjca

    @evodevo: hmmm – a lot of Old West town LEO’s making visitors check their guns?

    But that’s a century after the country was founded.   You know, modern.

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