Donald trumps trial on charges he tried to steal the 2020 election. In a court filing today, Special Counsel jack smith asked for a start date of january 2nd, 2024. He said this would vindicate the publics interest in a speedy trial, that will ultimately be decided by the judge presiding in that case, judge tanya chutkan. But even assuming she chooses a somewhat later start, there may be some delays along the way, donald trump is probably going to face trial in this case before the president ial election next november. Though he does have one critical possible hail mary remaining. He and his lawyers could try to somehow find a way to kick the case up to the Supreme Court, where the conservative majority would rescue him. That was one of the last desperate plans for Donald Trumps coup back in 2021, to get the Supreme Court to rule in his favor. We know theres at least one very conservative justice who one of trumps Coup Plotters thought would be particularly inclined to help out. I speak of this man, Clarence Thomas. Justice thomas is probably the most rightwing member of the Supreme Court in living memory. Hes fully committed to remaking the country and its jurisprudence in his conservative vision. The other thing you need to know about Clarence Thomas, and theres a lot about him, is that he has always wanted to be rich. It is part of what drove him from a childhood in abject poverty to an Ivy League Law school, as a recent Pbs Frontline Documentary explained. After holy cross, Clarence Thomas was off to a very different world once again. Yale law school. It was a chance to leave pinpoint far behind, to find his grandfathers prophesy and get positioned to make real money. He had thought well, you know what, im gonna go make a bunch of money, maybe go to new york and be a lawyer. In time thomas did work in the private sector, vermont santo, but then he was nominated for a position in the Reagan Administration and president h. W. Bush nominated him to the Supreme Court. Thomas chose to take that path. He was for going a lot of Potential Income that he couldve made outside of government in some fancy firm. Supreme Court Justices are paid well but nowhere near as much as a topflight corporate lawyer. In fact, thomas himself said in a 2001 speech to the Savannah Bar Association that it is not our job to do for money. The job is not worth doing for what they pay. Its not worth doing for the grief. But it is worth doing for the principle. The other thing is, being a Supreme Court justice is not also not a job that you leave. Thomas has been on the court for more than 30 years now, and he has been making a very good upper middle class salary. Certainly enough to live comfortably. Take nice vacations, all that stuff. But not enough to be really rich. You do not get to be a flamboyantly rich guy if youre a Supreme Court justice, not for what theyre paying. But there are a lot of Flamboyantly Rich Guys who do have a real interest in keeping Clarence Thomas on the court. People who share his vision, his rightwing ideology, who want him to rule in line with that vision. And so some of these people seem to have created a way of letting thomas kind of have his cake and eat it too. Thomas stays put on the court in a supremely important Public Sector job and his wealthy rightwing supporters pay for him to live like a rich guy. In fact, new reports from propublica today reveals the thomas has received gifts under written by benefactors who share the ideology that drives his jurisprudence, including, and here we start to get to the numbers, at least 38 destination vacations, including a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the bahamas, 26 private jet flights, plus an additional eight by helicopter, a dozen vip passes to professional College Sporting events, typically purchased in the sky barbs, one standing invitation to an uberexclusive golf club overlooking the lantern coast. To be clear, that comes on top of previous investigations revealing details about the billionaire republican donor who purchased property from thomas, including his mothers home, where she now lives rent free, and paid for the private and School Tuition of his grand nephew, who thomas raised as a son, none of which thomas has ever disclosed. So when you take a step back, this is what appears to be the deal, if you will, between Clarence Thomas and his right wing benefactors. You want yacht . We got yachts. You are private jets . We got private jet. You want a fancy lead education for your adopted son . Weve got. We will give you the life of luxury you want if you stay on the court where we need to, pursuing the ideological project we are all committed to. This is why gifts, particularly to judges, or to any public official, but do judges, are supposed to be at the very least disclosed and hopefully regulated or a band. It can be shockingly corrupt for a judge to be dependent on a wealthy benefactor giving him lots of stuff. But this deal has meant that Clarence Thomas is essentially a kept man. One of the most powerful men in the country, who sits on the highest court in the land, lifetime tenure, essentially no way to dislodge him, and apart from the dangers of this as it relates to his daytoday job, and they are significant, ruling on the most important cases in the country to come to the Supreme Court, it has set up real implications as it set out up to what don trump was trying to do on january 6th. So we already know that Clarence Thomass wife, julie, was corresponding with mark meadows about the election and also corresponding with one of trumps lawyers, john eastman, that man there, after the election. Now eastman is kind of in the thomas circle. He was the author the regional memo and he was also a former thomas clerk. December 4th, 2020, cheney asked eastman if he would proves it a Status Update to a group of great upstate leaders, presumably an update on eastman and other possible unindicted coconspirators efforts to have donald trump steal the election. We also know that john eastman spoke about his theory to overturn the 2020 results with a lawyer for Vice President mike pence, mike jacob. In that conversation john eastman talked about he thought it would play out its a dispute of election needed all the way up to the Supreme Court. This comes from jacobs testimony, to the january six committee, last year. Mr. Jacob, you discussed and even debated this theory at length with dr. Eastman. Dr. Eastman ever tell you what he thought the u. S. Supreme court would do if it had to decide this issue . Yes. We had an extended discussion, an hour and a half to two hours on january 5th, and when i pressed him on the point i said john, if the Vice President did what you are asking him to do, we would lose nine to nothing in the Supreme Court, wouldnt we . Initially he said well, maybe you will earn only 72. And after some further discussion, acknowledged, well, yeah, youre right, we would lose 9 to 1. Nine nothing or 7 to 2. I think i can come up with what those two would be. Who were two justices who would be willing to transgressed the law so thoroughly that they would endorse a coup . They were really counting on clearance thomas, the kept man. Surely he would be one of the two to vote in their favor favor. He couldnt be counted on to rule in their favor on an Emergency Appeal on Circuit Justice for georgia. This is another email from the this was written by Another Trump Lawyer called Kenneth Chesebro, who wrote another memo recently uncovered by the new york times. Shes pro rights to eastman, quote, possibly, as or spelling about how to steal the election, possibly thomas would end up being the key here. We want to frame things so that thomas could be the one to issue some sort of stay or other Circuit Justice opinion, saying georgia is in legitimate doubt. Realistically, our only chance to get a favorable judicial opinion by january 6th, which might hold up the georgia count in congress, is from thomas. Of course it didnt play out the way they planned. It never got out of the court. The system held. The will of voters were heard. And i want to be fair here, i think the theory was so cockamamie that even if it had gone to the Supreme Court i would hope that jake was right in wouldve died a 90 death, i hope. In the end the coup did not work. To biden became president. But what happens if some aspect of long trumps Election Case ends up in front of this Supreme Court . What do they have an opportunity not to do anything affirmative, but just to delay, just to kick the can, maybe even silently, so that he is spared a trial before the election . Would Clarence Thomas, the kept, man whose life of luxury subsidized by benefactors, deliver for the right . Jamelle bouie is a Opinion Columnist for the new york times. Melissa murray and join me now. First, jamelle, you read about, this melissa you run right about this a taliban cast, you also written about it. Lets just start, general, with the arrangement of what it appears to be. I have never encountered anything like. It im searching for an analog for someone who is in a government job, a Public Sector job, making a good salary, who gets to live at this sort of level of luxury because there is just this unbelievable coterie of billionaires subsidizing his lifestyle. I cant think of anything else like it either. I think its truly remarkable. I you think you had suggested that this was something of thomas remains in the court and he continues to rule in the favor of the conservative movement, and against live this high life. I dont think i disagree with that, but i also would add that i think part of the dynamic here is to completely wrap thomas and other justices as well, justice alito, within this alternative world of esteem and camaraderie, create these tight social ties, that are also bound up in fancy vacations and all sorts of nice stuff that will not even, that will just dissuade a justice from engaging in any of the ideological drift that can happen when you are effectively without accountability. They dont want another justice oconnor. They want someone whos going to be on the team, reliably, for the duration. Melissa, what do you think, i mean, i guess the argument, to the extent theres an argument, on behalf of thomas, and sometimes people are on these trips with him will pop up on social media to defend, him which is kind of comical. Its like were all friends, and i guess you dont like vacations with friends. I guess you lid zone like it when people who love each other and share each others companionship get together in this spot. Whats wrong with that . Well, obviously, quiz its not unconstitutional to have friends, even friends who are incredibly wealthy. But the Supreme Court isnt like any other entity in our system of constitutional design. Its, unlike congress it is and have the power of the purse. Its unlike the presidency. It doesnt have the power of the sword. For its legitimacy it depends on its own integrity. Like, the people have to believe that the court is illegitimate in order for them to continue to follow the courts pronouncements. When you have a situation like this one, where there is the appearance that one of the justices or more are in the pockets of billionaires, it really gives the court a bad look. The impropriety may not be actual, but the appearance of impropriety is very clear, and sometimes thats all you need. Just the appearance of impropriety and that is certainly here in spades. And we should say, in terms of the regulation, theres essentially not. And this is all voluntary regulation at this point. There are some laws that guide is. What are you going to do if they dont do this. You wrote this back in april. After one of these stories. There have been now a number. The police is not gonna police itself, the Courts Corruption Not Sea of its power is subjected to the same checks and limits we associate with the other branches. You have sam alito, jamele, in an interview, with a guy whos gonna be arguing huge case for him this term, by the way, saying congress doesnt, the constitution says the congress cant do that. I read that and i need lead side its just obviously wrong. It isnt just obviously wrong but its a remarkable statement. Its a statement from a Supreme Court justice that they exist above the constitutional system, thats nothing that can touch them. Thats frankly false, the constitution provides a number of mechanisms for congress to restrain discipline or strip the court from the power of the purse. Theres nothing in the constitution this is the justices have to have officers, have to have clerks. Thats all or congressional discretion. From the fact that in my view i think in an reading of article three section two, congress can put regulations on the court with regards to ethics. Can say that if youre going to hear this kind of category of cases, you have to not have any conflict of interest. Its the only thing congress can do. The fact that alito would say that publicly, having speaks to the imperiousness that has developed in the court. The imperious that is Self Evidence that the court needs to be restrained by another institution. Theres also, i mean, when you look at that email that you just cited, melissa, i want to be scrupulously fair here, Kenneth Chesebro speculating that thomas would be their best shot doesnt mean that he would have been. This is a speculation by chesebro, and maybe he wouldnt have been. But i have to say that if i were justice thomas, we know that his wife is communicating with john eastman. We know shes texting mark meadows about the coup. We know she favors the coup. We have people inside the coup Plot Counting on you. I would be mortified that they thought that of me. That they think that this guy is their guy, that when they are trying to pull off the first coup in american history, or the first since fort sumter, basically, that the guy that they might save them is justice thomas. Coop cuckoo, chris. He doesnt seem to mind that he is known as their guy. He doesnt seem to. Mine he revels in that. Again, these are close associations with the kinds of conservative interests not only have business before the court but in the wake of january six we are lots of defenses of what happened in the capital and what happened on the steps of the capital. And again, thats probably by design as well. This is someone who they think is their man on the court. Donald trump has said repeatedly that his favorite justices Clarence Thomas. This is someone whos sensibilities align with layers and apparently now his pockets also align with their, or least thats what this reporting is showing. Jamelle bouie and melissa murray, thank you both. Coming up, well head inside a michigan courtroom where the lactic acid buildup and Liver Problems can occur. Tell your doctor if you have kidney or Liver Problems, or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or considering pregnancy. Dovato may harm an unborn baby. Most common side effects are headache, nausea, diarrhea, trouble sleeping, tiredness, and anxiety. Detect this i stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Ask your doctor about switching to dovato. Wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. I stay undetectable with fewer medicines. Its to die for. And its all right here. Streaming was never this easy, you know. This is the way. You really went all out didnt you . Um, its called commitment. Could you turn down the volume . Here, you can try. Get way more into what your into when you stream on the xfinity 10g network. We have a possible date, goli, taste your goals. January 2nd of 2024. That is a date that Special Counsel jack smith is proposing for Donald Trumps d. C. January 6th trial. In a new court filing today, ahead of tomorrows hearing on that proposed protective order, jack smiths team writes, quote, the government proposes the trial began on january 2024 and estimates its case in chief will take no longer than 4 to 6 weeks. If that actually sticks, that would mean that the expresident would have a very busy calendar, with motions through october, november, the Jury Selection Starting in december. The trial would start in the beginning of the new year and would likely take place smacked dab in the middle of the allimportant iowa caucuses, which go on january 15th. The sixweek case would likely wrap up sometime in february, which, i have to say, i think this is a good thing. Not just on the merits, but the first thing for the Republican Party and all of its voters would be for them to know, for everyone who is voting, for the nomination of