Clarence Thomas Has Been Accepting Luxury Gifts and Private Jet Travel For Decades, Per Bombshell ProPublica Report
AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite
A bombshell ProPublica report revealed Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has been treated to years of luxury vacations by billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crow.
The multimedia and interactive essay opens with three attention-grabbing claims: “He goes on cruises in far-flung locales on Crow’s yacht, flies on his private jet, and keeps company with Crow’s powerful friends at the billionaire’s private resort.”
According to ethics law experts, Thomas’s failure to include any trips on his financial disclosures appears to “violate a law requiring justices, judges, members of Congress and federal officials to disclose most gifts.”
The essence of the reporting is revealed early in the damning piece:
For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show. A public servant who has a salary of $285,000, he has vacationed on Crow’s superyacht around the globe. He flies on Crow’s Bombardier Global 5000 jet. He has gone with Crow to the Bohemian Grove, the exclusive California all-male retreat, and to Crow’s sprawling ranch in East Texas. And Thomas typically spends about a week every summer at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks.
The extent and frequency of Crow’s apparent gifts to Thomas have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Justice Thomas is among the most conservative judges on the conservative Supreme Court, having been appointed by President George H. W. Bush in the early 90s. He has often cut a controversial figure, though most controversies of late have come from the political activity of his wife, Ginny Thomas, and her involvement with the events of January 6th and the House Select Committee investigating it.
ProPublica details the specific benefits that Thomas has received from the Dallas billionaire Republican donor, then quickly pivots to why exactly it is ethically questionable, quoting legal ethics experts:
“It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this,” said Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge appointed by President Bill Clinton. When she was on the bench, Gertner said, she was so cautious about appearances that she wouldn’t mention her title when making dinner reservations: “It was a question of not wanting to use the office for anything other than what it was intended.”
Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in administrations of both parties, said Thomas “seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations.”
“When a justice’s lifestyle is being subsidized by the rich and famous, it absolutely corrodes public trust,” said Canter, now at the watchdog group CREW. “Quite frankly, it makes my heart sink.”
ProPublica reports that they “uncovered the details of Thomas’ travel by drawing from flight records, internal documents distributed to Crow’s employees and interviews with dozens of people ranging from his superyacht’s staff to members of the secretive Bohemian Club to an Indonesian scuba diving instructor.”
Crow provided a statement to ProPublica in which he said that he and his wife have never discussed a pending or lower court case with Thomas.
“We have never sought to influence Justice Thomas on any legal or political issue,” he said.
This is only a topline summary of the findings in this potential bombshell report, which includes fascinating details — and photos — that provide a window into the lifestyles of the super-wealthy and influential.
Read the entire report here.
Editor’s note: The headline of this story has been updated.
