The United States Supreme Court and the Capitol sit on opposite sides of First Street, N.E. in Washington. Not only are they close in proximity, they share another famous D.C. trait – they are awash in slime.

Clarence Thomas, the chief justice-in-waiting, is stinking up the place. An investigation by the Los Angeles Times last week disclosed that he is the most gifted justice on the bench. No, not intellectually. He’s gifted in his ability to receive gifts. While many judges seek to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, Thomas has been raking in more gifts than a good kid at Christmas.

According to the Times, Thomas accepted $42,200 in gifts from 1998 through 2003, making him the court’s top panhandler. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor came in a distant second at $5,825.

The Ethics in Government Act of 1989 prohibits federal employees from accepting “anything of value” from a person or company doing business with them. However, federal judges adopted a rule that allows them to accept gifts of any value from those not involved in cases before them.

According to his disclosure forms, Thomas has accepted several gifts from Harlan Crow, a leading real estate developer in Dallas. Crow, a big Republican donor, flew Thomas on his personal plane in 1997 to be his guest at the Bohemian Grove in Northern California. In 2001, Crowe gave Thomas a Bible once owned by abolitionist Frederick Douglass, valued at $19,000.

Crow, a major contributor to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth campaign aimed at discrediting Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry, donated $175,000 for a new library wing honoring Thomas in his native Pin Point, Ga. At the time of the contribution, Crow was a board member of the Center for the Community Interest, a conservative group that filed a friend of the court brief with the Supreme Court.

Another conservative, Earl Dixon, a pest control executive in Jacksonville, Fla., gave Thomas $5,000 to pay for the education of a grand nephew. Thomas also accepted $1,200 worth of tires for his Corvette from a businessman in Omaha, Nebraska in 2003 as well as cigars, boots, a Stetson hat and other valuables from conservative groups and individuals.

“A justice of the Supreme Court attracts friends and generosity,” New York law professor Stephen Gillers told the Los Angeles Times. “These gifts are being given not because he is Clarence Thomas, but because he is Justice Clarence Thomas.”

Thomas’ chief rival to become the next chief justice, Antonin Scalia, was involved in a controversy last year when he took a trip on Air Force II to go duck hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney. He later refused to excuse himself from a court case involving the vice president; in fact, he voted to uphold Cheney’s position.

Across the street, House Republicans are in the process of institutionalizing political slime. After Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), known as the “Hammer,” got nailed with two ethics violations last year, the GOP leadership is about to change the rules and behead the chair of the House Ethics Committee who dared to challenge DeLay.

Under current rules, if a leader is indicted, he or she must give up their position until the pending charge is settled. In a move to protect DeLay, House GOP members are scheduled to meet this week to change the rule so that DeLay can continue to serve even if he is indicted.

In September, a Travis County, Texas grand jury indicted three DeLay aides on charges of illegally raising money from eight corporations. Because the prosecutor is a Democrat, DeLay has charged that the move against him was politically-motivated.

But he can’t make that claim against Joel Hefley, the chair of the House Ethics Committee. The Colorado Republican co-authored two committee admonishments of DeLay. One upbraided DeLay for offering to support the House candidacy of Michigan Republican Nick Smith’s son in return for the Congressman’s vote for a Medicare prescription drug benefit. DeLay was also criticized for improperly getting the Federal Aviation Administration involved in a Texas political standoff that ended up with some Democratic lawmakers fleeing the state to prevent the legislature from having enough members to act.

Rather than helping discipline DeLay, House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) is said to be leaning toward replacing Hefley with Lamar Smith, a Texan who has already contributed to DeLay’s defense fund.

The stench from the hog farms in North Carolina are no match for the smell of Washington slime.