Liberal media outlets are concerned with one thing only—forwarding their own political agenda,” declared Mark Paoletta, a partner at the Schaerr Jaffe law firm and close friend of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. The latest example of this coverage concerned the Justice and “a previously unreported voyage on a yacht around the Bahamas” that the justice reportedly told a close friend never happened, according to ProPublica.
Paoletta shared that Thomas “has never ever laid eyes on this boat” and has “never been in the Bahamas with Tony Novelly.” Furthermore, Paoletta argued that Thomas only walked onto a different yacht owned by Novelly for a tour of the engine room.
In addition, Paoletta argued that ProPublica’s claims of the price of the Justice’s tickets to a luxury University of Nebraska Football game were vastly wrong. “Our reporting on Justice Thomas’ trip to the Bahamas was based on multiple firsthand sources,” ProPublica editor-in-chief Stephen Engelberg told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We asked Justice Thomas about this trip and he did not respond. We take any allegation of error seriously and our policy is to correct any inaccuracies as quickly as possible.”
Paoletta alleged that the liberal media outlet has “not identified any legal cases that Huizenga, Sokol or Novelly had at the Supreme Court during their documented relationships with Thomas,” but yet they continue to paint him in a negative light. A DCNF review of tax documents in June revealed that ProPublica’s biggest donors, such as the Sandler Foundation, which launched the outlet, also fund several groups calling for Thomas to be investigated or resign.
1/My op-ed on @Propublica error-filled smear job on Justice Thomas, falsely claiming Thomas was on yacht in Bahamas with friend. Thomas never on yacht & last in Bahamas was in 1980s, long before he was on Court or met friend. @eisingerj @BrettMmurphy https://t.co/hJ7l9v4YLK
— Mark Paoletta (@MarkPaoletta) August 19, 2023
“Letting justice be carried out fairly is not a priority for liberal media outlets—manufacturing and promoting stories that paint conservative-leaning individuals in a negative light is,” said Paoletta. “From ProPublica’s mischaracterization of a legitimate court-related trip, to citing biased sources and donors in their stories, it is clear their bias and ulterior motives have begun to color their reporting.”