Fifth Circuit’s Ho Defends Justice Thomas’ Ethics in Speech

Judge James Ho stood by his former boss Justice Clarence Thomas in remarks to a Federalist Society chapter on Tuesday, arguing there shouldn’t be “double standards” on ethics.

Ho, a member of the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit who clerked for Thomas, defended the justice in the wake of ProPublica reports that he failed to disclose multiple gifted trips and a property deal with Republican donor Harlan Crow.

Ho also voiced support for Texas US District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who faces criticism for reportedly not disclosing an article he co-wrote during his confirmation process.

“Citizens deserve a government they can believe in. So I warmly welcome any good faith discussion about how to strengthen ethics in government,” Ho said in prepared remarks. “But we should apply the highest ethical standards, not hypocritical double standards.”

The remarks for a speech at the Dallas lawyers chapter of the Federalist Society were reported earlier in Reason and by legal blogger David Lat and independently obtained by Bloomberg Law.

Ho pointed to a Wall Street Journal report that found more than 130 federal judges heard cases in which they or a family member owned stock in one of the involved companies, saying the report “did not accuse all of those judges of actual corruption.”

“That’s an important distinction to draw. Because there’s a big difference between actual corruption and the appearance of corruption,” Ho said.

Ho said Thomas wasn’t the only justice to take trips that were sponsored by individuals or organizations that don’t have interests pending before the court, but that hasn’t been enough to trigger recusal.

Ho also defended his friend Kacsmaryk. The judge, who sits in Amarillo, has faced criticism after The Washington Post reported that he took his name off a draft law review article that was published before his nomination was announced.

Kacsmaryk made headlines recently after ruling the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a decades-old abortion drug should be suspended.

Ho said he presumes Kacsmaryk wouldn’t have had to disclose the article if he had withdrawn it altogether.

“After all, the document isn’t final until it’s final,” he said. “And if it had been a solo effort, I imagine that he would’ve withdrawn it. But this was a joint effort.”