FOUR YEARS BEFORE HE WAS APPOINTED TO THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND, CLARENCE THOMAS SAID THIS, THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO GET PAST BLACK SKIN. I DON'T CARE HOW EDUCATED YOU ARE, HOW GOOD YOU ARE AT WHAT YOU DO, YOU WILL NEVER HAVE THE SAME CONTACTS OR OPPORTUNITIES, YOU WILL NEVER BE SEEN AS EQUAL TO WHITES. DESPITE THAT PERSPECTIVE, CLARENCE THOMAS HAS DEDICATED HIS TIME ON THE BENCH TO UNDOING LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS ACHIEVEMENTS FOR BLACK AMERICANS. IN 1995, HE BECAME THE FIRST SUPREME COURT JUSTICE TO OPENLY CRITICIZE AROUND THE BOARD OF EDUCATION WHICH OF COURSE OUTLAWED SEGREGATION, IN 2013 HE VOTED TO GOT THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. IN 2023, HE JOINED A DECISION TO STRIKE DOWN RACE-BASED AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. HE'S ALSO USED HIS POSITION TO FILL THE JUDICIARY WITH SCORES OF HIS FORMER CLERKS, MOST OF WHOM ARE WHITE AND ALL OF WHOM HE SAYS, SHARE HIS VIEWS. >> I'M NOT GOING TO HIRE CLERKS WHO HAVE PROFOUND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ME. THAT'S A WASTE OF MY TIME. AND SOMEONE SAID THAT'S LIKE TRYING TO TRAIN A PIG. IT'S WASTING YOUR TIME AND AGGRAVATES THE PIG. >> THIS WEEK, WE HAVE NEWS THAT THOMAS HAS DECIDED TO HIRE AS HIS NEW CLERK, A WOMAN WHO IS PUBLICLY ACCUSED OF SENDING RACIST TEXT MESSAGES LIKE THE ONE THAT READS, I HATE BLACK PEOPLE IN CAPITAL LETTERS. SHE'S ALSO SOMEONE JUSTICE THOMAS HAS DESCRIBED AS NEARLY AN ADOPTED DAUGHTER. JOINING ME NOW IS MARK JOSEPH STERN, SENIOR WRITER FOR SLATE MAGAZINE. I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN WITH THE RACIST TEXT MESSAGES OR THE NEPOTISM. HOW UNUSUAL IS IT TO HIRE A SUPREME COURT LAW CLERK WHO ONCE LIVED WITH YOU? >> IT'S EXTRAORDINARILY UNUSUAL. ESSENTIALLY, UNHEARD OF SINCE THE OLDEN DAYS, WHEN THE JUSTICES LIVED AT BOARDING HOUSES IN 1800S WASHINGTON. THIS IS NEW TERRITORY, AND I THINK IT REALLY SHOWS JUST HOW ENMESHED CLARENCE THOMAS AND GINNI THOMAS ARE WITH THEIR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK, CRYSTAL CLIENT AND CAME TO THE THOMASES AS AN ASSISTANT TO GINNI THOMAS AFTER SHE WAS PUSHED OUT OF TURNING POINT USA FOR BEING TOO RACIST, AND THEN GREW INTO NOT ONLY A CONFIDANT TO JENNY BUT ALSO A FRIEND AND NEARLY ADOPTED DAUGHTER TO CLARENCE, NOW HE'S ELEVATING HER TO A CLERKSHIP WHICH POSITIONS HER WELL FOR A FIRST OF $500,000 BONUS IF SHE'S ENTERING PRIVATE PRACTICE AND 10 YEARS DOWN THE LINE A JUDGESHIP UNDER A FUTURE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT. SO THE STAKES ARE HIGH AND BECAUSE OF THAT, JUSTICES USUALLY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY TO HIRE BASED ON MERIT, TO ENSURE THEY ARE NOT JUST PICKING THEIR FRIENDS AND FAMILY. OBVIOUSLY CLARENCE THOMAS DOES THINGS DIFFERENT WAY, CLINTON MAY BE THE MOST EXTREME VERSION OF THAT BUT SHE'S NOT THE ONLY ONE. >> IN THE IMMEDIATE, IT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A GOOD IDEA TO HAVE A LAW CLERK AT THE SUPREME COURT WHO HAS TEXTED I HATE BLACK PEOPLE JUST FOR WHAT IT DOES TO THE COURT ITSELF WHICH IS SUFFERING FROM A MAJOR PR CRY SIX -- PR CRISIS AT BEST BUT PEOPLE WHO WRITE TEXT MESSAGES SAYING I HATE BLACK PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE IN THE PIPELINE, AND THOMAS, REALLY, HAS SEEMED TO HAVE PROFOUNDLY EFFICIENT, HE'S BUILT AN EFFICIENT PIPELINE AND HIS CLERKS REALLY HAVE GONE ON IN LARGE NUMBER, TO BECOME JUDGES, TO BE AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE AMERICAN JUSTICE SYSTEM. CAN YOU TALK MORE ABOUT HIS RECORD ON THAT? >> SO CLARENCE THOMAS'S CLERKSHIPS ARE UNIQUE IN THAT THEY FUNCTION AS AN INDOCTRINATION BOOT CAMP. HE DOESN'T HIDE THIS, HE GOES OUT OF HIS WAY TO SELECT ? YOU ALREADY AGREE WITH HIM. HE ACTUALLY HAS DIRECT LINES TO CONSERVATIVE PROFESSORS AT LAW SCHOOLS LIKE NOTRE DAME WHO PICK THE MOST IDEOLOGICALLY EXTREME AND PURE STUDENTS, AND PUT THEM IN THE PIPELINE UP TO A FUTURE CLERKSHIP, ONCE THEY ARE THERE, WITH CLARENCE THOMAS, HE INSTILLS THEM ON THIS EXTREME FAR RIGHT CONSERVATIVE PHILOSOPHY, SEND THEM ON THEIR WAY. MANY DO TAKE THESE PAYOUTS IN PRIVATE PRACTICE, THE BONUS FOR SUPREME COURT CLERK IS ABOUT HALF $1 MILLION BUT THEN THEY FIND THEIR WAY BACK INTO PUBLIC SERVICE, QUITE FREQUENTLY IN THE FORM OF A JUDGESHIP. TRUMP AND HIS ADVISORS WENT BACK, TIME AND AGAIN TO CLARENCE THOMAS IS FOR -- FORMER CLERKS TO GET JUSTICES AND THEY HAVE PROVED TO BE SOME OF THE MOST EXTREME ON THE BENCH. JUDGES LIKE ALLISON JONES RUSHING WHO JUST TODAY UPHELD AN EXTREME RACIAL GERRYMANDER IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA. THESE JUDGES HAVE A MISSION THAT CLARENCE THOMAS HELPS THEM TO REFINE AND ONCE THEY ARE OUT IN THE WORLD, THEY WORK VERY HARD AND CONSISTENTLY TO ACHIEVE THOSE GOALS AND CIRCLE BACK AROUND EVERY YEAR FOR A MEETING WITH CLARENCE THOMAS AND HIS CLERKS FAMILY, WHERE THEY ALL CONGRATULATE EACH OTHER ON ALL THEY HAVE DONE TO FURTHER THE CAUSE. >> IT'S SOUTH CAROLINA WHERE THE EXTREME GERRYMANDERING IS HAPPENING, JUST TO BE CLEAR, RIGHT? IT'S NOT JUST JUDGESHIPS, JOHN EASTMAN, IS A FORMER CLARENCE THOMAS LAW CLERK, IS THAT RIGHT? >> YES, HE'S CURRENTLY BEING DISBARRED FROM CALIFORNIA BECAUSE OF HIS PARTICIPATION IN TRYING TO OVERTURN THE ELECTION. ONE OF THE MORE EXTREME EXAMPLES BUT A GOOD ONE. THE OTHER ONE IS JOHN YOU WHO WROTE THE TORTURE MEMOS UNDER JOHN INGRAM. NOT ALL OF THESE INDIVIDUALS GO DIRECTLY INTO THE JUDICIARY'S, EITHER WAY, THEY ARE PREACHING FROM THE GOSPEL THAT CLARENCE THOMAS HELPED TO WRITE, AND I'M
