Attorney Moira Smith took to Facebook to recall her encounter with Justice Thomas on the evening of October 7, when the now infamous audio recording of presidential hopeful Donald Trump boasting about groping women was just beginning to engulf international headlines. Ms Smith alleges that the esteemed judge touched her in an inappropriately sexual manner at a dinner party she was attending as a Truman Scholar in 1999 which he denies.

Earlier allegations

This is the first allegation of sexual assault or misconduct that has been publicly levelled against Justice Thomas since 1991, when a former employee accused Justice Thomas of verbal sexual harassment against her while they had worked together at the US Department of Education’s office of Civil Rights. The allegations came to light during the Senate confirmation hearings for Justice Thomas’ appointment to the US Supreme Court.

‘Preposterous… it never happened.’

Ms Smith’s post, which has since been deleted after she deactivated her Facebook account, read: ‘He groped me while I was setting the table and said I should sit ‘right next to him’.’ In a later interview, Ms Smith claimed that Justice Thomas had grabbed her buttocks and squeezed it repeatedly. Three of Ms Smith’s former housemates and her former husband have confirmed that Ms Smith reported the incident to them at the time. For his part, Justice Thomas has vehemently denied Ms Smith’s allegations, issuing a statement through a SCOTUS spokesperson that described the claims as ‘preposterous.’ Source: Law.com; TIME