Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas used a podcast appearance to publicly thank Sen. Ted Cruz for defending him and his wife against what Thomas called politically motivated ethics complaints, a rare personal acknowledgment from the nation's second-longest-serving justice.
Thomas appeared on Monday's episode of "Verdict with Ted Cruz" and singled out the Texas Republican for refusing to back down while others, in Thomas's words, chose to "wither." The appearance came as Cruz prepares to release a biography of Thomas titled "Going Further: The Incomparable Clarence Thomas," which traces the justice's path from poverty in segregated Georgia to more than three decades on the nation's highest court.
The exchange offered a window into how Thomas views the ethics controversies that engulfed him beginning in 2023, not as legitimate oversight, but as a coordinated campaign against a justice whose constitutional originalism has reshaped American law. Cruz, a Harvard Law graduate who once clerked for former Chief Justice William Rehnquist, has been one of Thomas's most vocal defenders in the Senate.
During the podcast, Thomas directed his thanks not only at Cruz but also at Sen. Mike Lee of Utah, framing their support as personal loyalty during a period he described bluntly as an attack on his family. The Hill reported Thomas's comments on the episode:
"You're one of the people who actually stands up, particularly at times when others seem to wither, and I appreciate it."
Thomas continued, bringing his wife Ginni into the frame:
"And more personally, when we, my wife and I, were under attack for obvious reasons, you and Mike Lee and some of the other friends would stand up. So I really appreciate that."
Cruz responded with his own praise for Thomas, calling the justice's willingness to endure sustained criticism "world-changing."
"That is very kind of you, and especially for you to observe that I stand up in the face of criticism and attacks, that is, that is powerful coming from you because you're someone who knows what that's like and has done so in a way that has been been world-changing."
The mutual admiration was not new. Cruz has consistently framed the scrutiny of Thomas as selective and ideologically driven. In April 2023, as the ethics allegations were intensifying, Cruz went on Fox News and laid out his view in direct terms:
"They're not looking at any other judges. This is a political smear job directed at Clarence Thomas, because he is an extraordinary constitutionalist."
The ethics controversy that prompted Cruz's defense erupted in 2023, when Thomas faced allegations that he had failed to disclose gifts, luxury travel, and property transactions involving billionaire and Republican mega-donor Harlan Crow. Thomas denied any wrongdoing. He later disclosed that he had accepted several private jet trips, citing security concerns in the wake of the leaked draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, the ruling that overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the constitutional right to abortion.
Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, drew separate scrutiny over reported efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election, adding another layer to the political pressure on the couple.
The fallout pushed the Supreme Court to adopt its first-ever code of conduct for the justices, directing them to "avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety in all activities," among other rules. Critics of Thomas treated the code as a rebuke. His allies, including Cruz, viewed the entire episode as proof that the left targets conservative justices who produce results progressives cannot achieve through legislation.
Thomas has remained on the bench throughout, continuing to issue opinions that shape major areas of constitutional law. He recently dissented in a landmark birthright citizenship case, underscoring his willingness to stake out positions well outside the court's center of gravity.
Cruz's biography, set for release this week, covers Thomas's upbringing in segregated Georgia and his rise to the Supreme Court. The book amounts to a full-throated defense of a justice whom Cruz regards as the most consequential originalist in modern American history.
That framing carries weight given Cruz's own legal pedigree. Before entering politics, he clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist and built a reputation as one of the Senate's sharpest voices on judicial matters. His decision to write a biography of a sitting justice, and to host that justice on his podcast to promote it, signals how central Thomas's legacy has become to the conservative legal movement.
Thomas's influence extends well beyond the disclosure controversies. He has called on the court to revisit established legal doctrines he considers lacking in constitutional foundation, and he has rebuked his colleagues for taking cases he views as unworthy of the court's attention. Whether the subject is criminal law, administrative power, or individual rights, Thomas has spent three decades writing opinions that force the legal establishment to confront first principles.
His allies on the court share similar resolve. Justice Samuel Alito recently confirmed he would remain on the bench, reinforcing the durability of the court's originalist wing despite sustained political pressure from the left.
Cruz's charge, that the ethics campaign singled out Thomas while ignoring other justices, remains the core conservative objection to the entire episode. No formal disciplinary or legal consequences have been imposed on Thomas. The Supreme Court's new ethics code applies to all justices, not just one. Yet the political energy behind the complaints flowed in a single direction: toward the justice whose jurisprudence most threatens progressive legal priorities.
Thomas and his defenders, including Cruz and Lee, have consistently argued that the attacks are designed to delegitimize originalist justices rather than enforce genuine ethical standards. The podcast exchange suggests Thomas views the matter as settled, at least in his own mind, and that the allies who stood with him earned a debt he intends to acknowledge publicly.
When the pressure was highest, most of Washington found reasons to stay quiet. Thomas noticed who didn't.
