Like many others, I assumed Clarence Thomas was so chastened by Anita Hill’s testimony at his confirmation hearings that he has not sexually harassed women since. I was wrong to assume this.
On the same fall night in 2016 that the infamous Access Hollywoodtape featuring Donald Trump bragging about sexual assault was made public by the Washington Post and dominated the news, an Alaska attorney, Moira Smith, wrote on Facebook about her own experiences as a victim of sexual misconduct in 1999.
“At the age of 24, I found out I’d be attending a dinner at my boss’s house with Justice Clarence Thomas,” she began her post, referring to the U.S. Supreme Court justice who was famously accused of sexually harassing Anita Hill, a woman who had worked for him at two federal agencies, including the EEOC, the federal sexual-harassment watchdog.
“I was so incredibly excited to meet him, rough confirmation hearings notwithstanding,” Smith continued. “He was charming in many ways — giant, booming laugh, charismatic, approachable. But to my complete shock, he groped me while I was setting the table, suggesting I should ‘sit right next to him.’ When I feebly explained I’d been assigned to the other table, he groped again … ‘Are you sure?’ I said I was and proceeded to keep my distance.” Smith had been silent for 17 years but, infuriated by the “Grab ’em by the pussy” utterings of a presidential candidate, could keep quiet no more. — nymag.com/...
This portion of Jill Abramson’s article in New York magazine relies on a report published by Marcia Coyle in 2016.
Abramson goes on to argue that Clarence Thomas should be impeached, for perjury. He lied repeatedly during his confirmation hearings, and removing him from the Supreme Court would be the appropriate remedy. Three federal judges have been impeached for perjury in the past three decades. Thomas can join them.
Not only did Thomas and his enablers wage a concerted campaign to undermine Anita Hill’s testimony, they worked to bury the testimony of three other women who corroborated Anita Hill’s account.
During the 1991 hearings, EEOC employees Rose Jourdain, Sukari Hardnett, and Angela Wright accused their boss Clarence Thomas of having engaged in inappropriate workplace talk, which he denied. The three women weren’t called to formally testify; instead, Wright and Jourdain were interviewed over the phone by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and their staffs, and Hardnett submitted a written description of her experiences. Their interviews were very quietly entered into the record, without even some in Congress realizing the testimony existed. — nymag.com/...
Abramson’s article is comprehensive, covering evidence from several other people who confirmed that Clarence Thomas sexually harassed several women and lied about it to congress.
— @subirgrewal