John Oliver Offers To Pay Clarence Thomas To Leave

(USNewsBreak.com) – Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has become a bit of a controversial figure in recent months. A ProPublica exposé accused him last year of failing to report millions of dollars in lavish trips and luxury gifts over the years while serving on the nation’s High Court. To make matters worse, he was also complaining about his salary. Now, one late-night talk show host has a proposition for him — and it involves a lot of money.

During the Sunday night broadcast of “Last Week Tonight,” on February 18, host John Oliver said he was going to take a page out of the rich and powerful’s playbook and offer Justice Thomas $1 million per year — until one of the men die — to step down from the SCOTUS. He said Thomas has 30 days to accept the deal, which would also come with a motor coach priced at $2.4 million. Oliver has outfitted the RV with several perks, including a fireplace and king-sized bed.

John Oliver offers to pay Clarence Thomas $1m a year if he resigns from supreme court https://t.co/oa9pCoqTeb

— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) February 19, 2024

Oliver’s proposal is actually “somehow legal,” according to the legal experts he consulted, per The Washington Post. He also reportedly insisted it wasn’t a joke and the offer was real. It comes at a time when faith in the Supreme Court is on the decline because of the allegations made against several justices. Oliver said people’s view of the Justices has become skewed. In the segment, he argued the public no longer sees them as regular human beings, “people who can be motivated by ideology and greed like anybody else.”

Oliver pointed out the many different scandals that ProPublica and others have accused Thomas of having involvement in, from the luxury trips he received from Harlan Crow, his wife’s involvement in trying to overturn the 2020 election, undisclosed real estate transactions, and the fact that a billionaire friend paid for his nephew’s tuition — to the tune of several thousands of dollars a month. That said, Oliver pointed out that he doesn’t believe donors gave the gifts to “change [Thomas’ ] views,” but rather they were “paying for him not to leave,” a motivation he called “different, but not better.”

Justice Thomas has not commented on the offer.