The front-page article “Thomas says he didn’t have to disclose luxury trips” (April 8, TribLIVE) calls out Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas for possibly omitting required documentation about vacations and gifts received from a friend and his possible conflict of interest. Thomas claims he followed reporting requirements at that time. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Judicial Conference recently changed its rules to require more disclosure. The new rules took effect last month.
Your April 11 cartoon graphically savages Thomas’ gift receiving, though the paper’s editorial stated that “there could be issues here, but there isn’t anything specific.” Fair enough. Further review should determine whether Thomas did or did not report as required. Until then, he is innocent of ethical violations.
In the April 7 issue, the much less likely to be read page 8 headline reads “Biden blames Trump for Afghanistan chaos” (April 6, TribLIVE). By now, the world knows that President Biden caused this chaos by ignoring the advice of his senior military officers to keep 2,500 military personnel in Afghanistan to maintain stability during and after an orderly withdrawal. Thirteen U. S. military and many more Afghans died needlessly. Billions of dollars of military equipment fell into Taliban hands. When asked if military advisers had advised against a withdrawal at that time, Biden seemingly lied, saying he did not recall receiving that advice.
The Biden Afghanistan withdrawal story belonged on page 1, not page 8. The Afghan withdrawal disaster is fact. The charges about Thomas’ actions and character are unproven allegations.
Scott Brown
Greensburg