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Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas: Washington Is a ‘Hideous Place’

The conservative jurist said at a judicial conference that he and his wife have been the target of “nastiness” and “lies.”

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, who has been dogged by ethical questions, told an audience at a judicial conference on Friday that he wishes he was still a lowly appeals judge and that the nation’s capital is “a hideous place.” “What you are going to find, especially in Washington, is that people are going to pride themselves on being awful,” Thomas said at the Alabama event, according to The Washington Post. He also complained that he and his wife Ginni have faced “nastiness” and “lies”—a reference to the criticism that has accompanied his acceptance of lavish gifts from politically active billionaire Harlan Crow and her moves to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Thomas also addressed the leak of a draft version of the ruling that reversed the abortion-rights decision Roe v. Wade, saying it would not have happened in an earlier era. “It would be inconceivable that anyone would leak in the court or do anything to intentionally harm one another,” he said.