Justice Thomas writes about Anita Hill in his new book [View All]

Justice Thomas says in book Anita Hill was mediocre employee used in effort to destroy him

Breaking his 16-year public silence on his bitter confirmation hearings, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas says Anita Hill was a mediocre employee who was used by political opponents to make claims she had been sexually harassed.

Thomas writes about Hill, his former employee in two government agencies, and the allegations that nearly derailed his nomination to the high court in 1991 in his autobiography, "My Grandfather’s Son."

A copy of the book, which goes on sale Monday, was obtained Friday by The Associated Press.

Powerful interest groups were out to stop him at all costs and they chose "the age-old blunt instrument of accusing a black man of sexual misconduct," he writes.