DAVIES: And what do we know of its work and its clients? We are introduced to the friendly watchdog Jed when the three keepers arrive at the lighthouse for their six week shift at the tower. Let's talk about this. I spoke to a number of the people who are really considered kind of the gold standard on the subject of judicial ethics. As Thomas throws the body overboard, James voluntarily enters the sea and drowns. DAVIES: We're speaking with Jane Mayer. But James intentions were different, as his unhinged mind wanted the cruelty to stop. What the court does now is it says it self-enforces and tries to abide by the code of the other judges. Powered by WordPress.com VIP. DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. She had posted in favor of the protests. He, meanwhile - this is where it begins to get - sort of the plot thickens and it gets concerning - is that he, meanwhile, was very much advocating publicly for Trump's so-called Muslim ban that was going to try to exclude Muslim countries from having immigrants come to the United States. He just really loves Maldonado, 51. Ginni Thomas, wife of Clarence Thomas, endorsed the protest that became Jeds last appearance is when he is sitting next to Donalds corpse. Her latest article is "Is Ginni Thomas A Threat To The Supreme Court?" When James tells Donald that Thomas wife died, he expresses his condolences and even asks Thomas what happened. MAYER: It's a one-woman shop. The bars of gold are not exactly shown in the scene, and nobody knows what Thomas did with them. Thomas was a popular child actor in the 90s, best known for his role on the sitcom Home Improvement, while Pomers starred in the series Reba in the early 2000s. What do we know about that meeting, how it happened, what occurred? So tricky that Wanda Clancy's attorneys have requested two full months for the case on the Calvert County, Md., court docket, pushing it ahead to April 5, 1999. Anita Hill accused him of sexual harassment. She flunked the bar exam, the state bar exam in Nebraska, and she sort of fell in with a self-help sort of self-actualization kind of cult called Lifespring in Washington, where the members kind of got into ritual humiliation of each other. Only 40% of the country said that they respected the court. (SOUNDBITE OF DAN AUERBACH SONG, HEARTBROKEN, IN DISREPAIR). Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas talks to his wife, Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, at the Heritage Foundation on Oct. 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Ginni Thomas, the controversial wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, says her activities on behalf of Donald Trump and other conservative causes have no bearing on the work of her husband. This alerts the keepers and gets them back to the tower. The Vanishing unfolds the mystery of three lighthouse keepers Thomas, James, and Donald, who disappear from the island without a trace. Her disappearance merited . DAVIES: You know, what's fascinating is that it sort of makes a Supreme Court case almost like a legislative hearing where, you know, Congress or a state legislature will say, yeah, anybody who thinks there's important information we should know about this proposed law, come sit down, get sworn in and tell us what you have to say. This makes the climax pose a big question what really happened to Thomas, James and Donald? James was a family man who loved his wife and children and would do anything for them. And if you push back further and kind of, you know, turn the rocks over further, what you find is that Gaffney's center was funded by a political group which was chaired by Rebekah Mercer, the sort of well-known Trump backer. It's another kind of form of dark money spending. You know, it may be that Clarence Thomas would have voted the way he voted, to uphold the Muslim ban, anyway. But meanwhile, there are kind of private interests pouring money into the court by filing these amicus briefs. Kimberly Fletcher was an organizer of it and spoke at two of the events at January 6. And that is, I guess, the release of Trump's documents. In Sommersby, a bearded, muddy figure (Richard Gere) tromps across the dark green wilderness of the American South, finally arriving in Vine Hill, Tenn. And in 2017 and 2018, according to filings that he submitted to the IRS, he hired Ginni Thomas' consulting group, each year, for over $100,000, to work for him. He thought that killing Donald would ease his mind, but that only aggravated his condition and drove him to kill himself. The movie was directed by George Sluizer and was a remake of the French-Dutch movie of the same name that was made and directed by Sluizer in 1988. Our guest is New Yorker staff writer and chief Washington correspondent Jane Mayer. Based on the 1900 disappearance of the Flannan Isles Lighthouse crew, it stars Gerard Butler, Peter Mullan, and Connor Swindells as three lighthouse keepers whose shift takes a dark turn. The Mystery of Fleet Street: An Article on Boris Johnson Vanishes Latest development: one Democratic senator thinks Joe Biden should negotiate with House speaker Kevin . The Life and Times of Bold & Beautiful's RJ Forrester [PHOTOS] (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Latinos continue to be invisible in Hollywood and the media, a new report finds, Street Fighter 6 Jamie Movalists Guide (The Devil Inside, Buckeye & More), All the Halloween candy and jack-o-lanterns at Camp Woodwind in Phasmophobia, How Netflixs Mo Evades the Usual Representation Traps, Actress Taylor Paige is getting married on her 32nd birthday. When James tells Donald that Thomas' wife died, he expresses his condolences and even asks Thomas what happened. When James and Thomas head for the boat to get away, Jed is nowhere to be found. Clarence Thomas' wife apologizes to his former clerks for - CNN So basically, anybody who wants to give money to a Supreme Court justice could pay the spouse as a client, and nobody would know in the public. And she had given an award to somebody named Kimberly Fletcher, who runs Moms for America, which also was involved in the protests. Hardcover, 343 pages. And they presented what they said were better people, their friends, who should be hired. Thomas slams the door and asks to leave, but in vain. What we know is that for months, Ginni Thomas had been trying to get into the White House to have the meeting with President Trump. After the lighthouse keepers deal with the crew members who come to the island looking for their missing man and the chest full of gold he traveled with, the tension in the movie increases manifold. Does she hire other lobbyists? And it's trying to get more public disclosure of this kind of thing. Kathy Ambush is Clarence Thomas's first wife and the mother of his one and only son. We see Thomas alone on the boat. One of the other things you noted in the piece I find interesting is that, in some cases, attorneys who have cases before the Supreme Court feel like they discover that, you know, they have an opponent, which is the other party than their attorneys', but they also have another opponent in Ginni Thomas. You'll find lots of FRESH AIR interviews. You know, you can see that in her possibly. What happened to Thomas at the end of The Vanishing? She appears to have a private business, a consulting business, where - at least the way that Justice Thomas has been interpreting the rules, where she can take clients and not have to publicly disclose who they are. As Thomas throws the body overboard, James voluntarily steps into the sea and drowns himself. Kathy Ambush and Her Ex-husband Struggled Financially When He Was a Here's what else has happened today so far: The debt limit battle has officially started . It's kind of an online network, a secret network of right-wing activists who are trying to coordinate with conservative members of Congress and their staff and conservative members of the media and quite a few other activists. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas talks to his wife, Ginni Thomas, a conservative activist, at the Heritage Foundation on Oct. 21, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Drew Angerer/Getty Images hide caption Those range from her activities on behalf of Trump to her speeches condemning the Affordable Care Act. She has not registered as a lobbyist. English. They've suggested he really needs to recuse in any case involved in the January 6 uprising because his wife has so many ties to so many of the activists who planned those uprisings and those protests. She's been supportive of Donald Trump's baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen, and she's said that the country faces existential danger from the deep state and the fascist left. And there's a push on - in Congress to try to get more sort of disclosure and transparency of it. And a lot of these briefs are actually filed by groups where you can't see who's funding them. The Vanished ending explained: What happened to Taylor & Miranda? . I mean, the thing is that Ginni Thomas has ties to many of the organizers of the January 6 protests. The law doesn't require that - the rules don't require that? The film is a testament to human strength, both mental and physical. He decides he cant take it anymore and wants to kill himself. The Vanishing Ending: Why Did Thomas Kill James? I think she's got maybe one assistant that I know of. Thomas' fourth wife, Francis, passed away in 2004 after undergoing successful heart surgery, leaving her husband as the . And that is more than half the country at this point. But the chapel scene implies there were unresolved issues between the couple and they couldnt forgive each other afterwards. Many say there's a pressing need for clearer rules to govern the conduct of Supreme Court justices and their families. A persons mental health can go awry in such circumstances. Do we know? The Vanishing (2018) - Plot - IMDb Who is BJ Thomas' wife Gloria? A look at their 53-year love - MEAWW And what he knew was that Ginni Thomas is on the executive committee. DAVIES: Can anybody file an amicus brief, and does the court have to take it into consideration? I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. Thomas is seen as distant and grieving throughout the film. So she has not disclosed or registered herself as a lobbyist in any formal way. What Happened to Clarence Thomas' First Wife? - Market Realist At every "crime scene," the Garda (Ireland's police force) found zero evidence. In January, for instance, the Supreme Court rejected Trump's effort to block a congressional subpoena for White House records related to the events surrounding the certification of the 2020 presidential election, and the Jan. 6 riot. You wrote a terrific book about this, by the way - "Strange Justice" is the name - with Jill Abramson. Back in 2003, playboy Ridge Forrester (then Ronn Moss) and former stepmother Brooke Logan were in South America to tie the knot for the third time when the groom was kidnapped by merry murderess Sheila Carter, another former stepmother but one that he had no interest in marrying. (SOUNDBITE OF AMY RIGBY SONG, "PLAYING PITTSBURGH"). Former 'X Factor' Star Thomas Wells Dead at 46 - TMZ Their bodies were never found, and an official investigation conducted by a superintendent named Robert Muirhead determined the sea had "washed away" the men. Nine is the owner of this masthead. Wow. He said she's - basically sees the world as either you're part of her little group or you're an enemy. But I think, you know, it's interesting to me. The plan goes awry when men come to the island looking for their cargo and the missing man. But surprisingly, he isnt seen in any of the fight scenes where he could have been helpful. Thomas and James haul the chest up the cliff as Donald fights off the man and kills him with a rock in self-defense. The movie is a testament to human strength, both mental and physical. She's a staff writer and chief Washington correspondent for The New Yorker. How Brit Bennett's mom inspired 'The Vanishing Half - Los Angeles Times DAVIES: FRESH AIR's executive producer is Danny Miller. DAVIES: Now, you cite many circumstances in which conservative groups or individuals that Ginni Thomas has some association with have filed amicus briefs before the court that her husband sits on. And, you know, everybody has a right to express their political views and a right to engage in lawful business activities. So it seems as if she's kind of favoring him. Action where one of the group's positions was that every week, they were told that their members needed to denounce the Southern Poverty Law Center online every single week, to come up with something to say that would denigrate this organization. why is accuracy important in customer service. So the standard for the other judges, not the justices, is not just a financial benefit standard. He decides he cant take it anymore and wants to kill himself. We also see Thomas lighting three candles in the chapel while reciting three names Jessica, Freya, and Cathy. The wooden chest contains a lot of stuff, with gold bars immediately catching everyones attention. Its appearance is limited but adds some life to the dreary scenes of the Gray Isle. He's a well-known figure in Washington. MAYER: Well, it was so great to be with you. It has been reported from numerous sources that Ginni Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sponsored 80 busloads of . So she gave that up and eventually opened up her own little political lobbying firm called Liberty Consulting. There's a couple where the husband is the legal director of the ACLU - that's David Cole - and his wife, Nina Pillard, is a circuit court judge on the appeals court in Washington, D.C. Nina Pillard recuses herself from any case that the ACLU has been involved in, either nationally or locally, and even in a case where the ACLU has submitted an amicus brief. After Locke and Boor are murdered, the Guardians chase someone hiding outside and James kills him as well. "We're friends. And so what you can see is the money has gone from Trump backers to the Gaffney nonprofit and from that to Ginni Thomas' consulting firm. "The Vanishing" is a textbook exercise in the trashing of a nearly perfect film, conducted oddly enough under the auspices of the man who directed it. In all, it measured 2.71 miles and it stood 250 feet tall - 15 feet higher than the Brooklyn Bridge. The bridge took 17 months to build. "We have never since 1790 had any justice doing anything like that. DAVIES: Do you have any information or did any of your sources think that Justice Roberts or other justice may have reached out to Clarence Thomas about this to make it clear they're uncomfortable with Ginni Thomas' connections to groups with business before the court? What do you know about the impact of that experience on their relationship and her political development? As the wooden chest washes up on shore, many questions arise about the boxs contents. So I think, you know, if it was a, you know, somebody who didn't have any particular standing or reason to be involved, they can strike those briefs. On this winter evening, Thomas, a substitute teacher for the St. Louis Public Schools, is reliving scenes from the mid-1990s, when she was the young mother of two toddler . But it looks like she had sort of some rocky years. MAYER: So there are. The Vanishing Half Summary. Senate asks supreme court chief justice to testify on ethics amid What was his concern? In her interview with the Free Beacon, Mrs. Thomas said she and her husband do not discuss Supreme Court cases "until [the court's] opinion are public --and even then, our discussions have always been very general and limited to public information.". One thing, as they always do, led to another, and Ridge was . Mayer reports that Ginni Thomas holds extreme right-wing . Mayer reports that Ginni Thomas holds extreme right-wing views. He starts blaming Donald for their situation because if Donald had not killed the man who landed on the shore, nothing else would have happened. And it's hard to tell which ones have been clients of hers or which ones are just supporters. And there are a ton of amicus briefs at the Supreme Court these days. And he said that his parents were actually Goldwater Republicans. DAVIES: Interesting. And this was - Ginni Thomas was kind of described as the tip of the spear of this by somebody else. Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas texted Trump chief about overturning 2020 election.