Now awaiting trial in a South Carolina jail, Mark Elliot Martin Jr. says his Aunt Ginni and Uncle Clarence don't have anything to do with him, despite spending his formative years living "as their son."

"I haven't really heard much from them in a long time. I tried to communicate with them a couple of times, but I've never gotten any response." --Adopted son of Ginni and Clarence Thomas

To be clear, SCOTUS Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Virginia did not deliberately raise Mark Martin to commit the weapons and drug crimes for which he was arrested last summer. Nor did the Thomases pay for their adopted grand-nephew to attend Randolph-Macon military prep school or to seek treatment at the now-bankrupt Hidden Lake Academy boarding school/inpatient facility. Those bills were covered by influential real estate tycoon, Harlan Crow who paid for Clarence and his guest to attend the all-boys club at Bohemian Grove.

L-R Clarence Thomas, Ken Burns, David Koch, Mark Martin at Bohemian Grove in Monte Rio, CAPhoto byProPublica

Awkward posers at Bohemian Grove

On September 22, 2023, ProPublica illustrated the decades-long friendship between Clarence Thomas and the politically influential Koch family with the above photo of Thomas, filmmaker Ken Burns, and David Koch standing together at Bohemian Grove a few feet away from a bored-looking young man who appears to be Clarence's sister Emma Mae Martin's grandson, Mark Elliot Martin Jr.

Hours after the Bohemian Grove photo surfaced, Burns distanced himself from the judge with an aide telling Variety that the extent of his relationship with Thomas involved "innocuous pleasantries" and a single impromptu snapshot taken at the Monte Rio gathering of the secretive Bohemian Club "around ten years ago."

A Redditor shared this undated image of young Marky Martin with his adopted parents, Aunt Ginni and Uncle Clarence ThomasPhoto byOld School Cool / Reddit

When Ginni and Clarence adopted 'Marky' in 1997, he was a "precocious, curly-haired 6-year-old" to whom Clarence promised greater opportunity than the child had in their mutual homewtown of Pin Point, Georgia. According to ProPublica, that great opportunity included tuition at Hidden Lake inpatient facility paid for by the SCOTUS judge's BFF, Harlan Crow, who also foot the bill for the youngster to attend the elite Randolph-Macon Academy military prep school.

From boarding school to room and board in a South Carolina jail

Awaiting trial in Jasper County Detention Center since June of last year, Martin told Business Insider he hasn't heard a word from Clarence and Ginni in years. Ineligible for bail due to prior arrest and the violent nature of his charges, Martin could spend 25 years behind bars.

"I actually don’t know if they know that I’m locked up—I’m not sure they’d care too much. I’ve seen—I’ve probably seen them two times, maybe three times, over the last 14 years." --Clarence Thomas' adopted son, Mark Elliot Martin Jr.

Sources:

ProPublica; Clarence Thomas Had a Child in Private School. Harlan Crow Paid the Tuition; May 4, 2023

ProPublica; Clarence Thomas Secretly Participated in Koch Network Donor Events; Sept 22, 2023

Variety; Ken Burns Sets Record Straight Over Photo With Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas; Sept 22, 2023

Business Insider; Clarence Thomas raised him 'as a son.' Now he's facing 25-plus years on weapons and drug charges; June 11, 2024

Washington Post; Justice Thomas's Life A Tangle of Poverty, Privilege and Race; April 22, 2007

Bottom of The Barrel; Clarence Thomas Attended Bohemian Grove with Koch Bros Courtesy of Harlan Crow; June 10, 2024