Clarence Thomas Thanks Ted Cruz for Defending Him Against Ethics Complaints: ‘I Appreciate It’

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas thanked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) for defending him amid ethics complaints.

Thomas appeared on Cruz’s podcast The Verdict on Monday, where the host/senator asked the justice if this was the first podcast he has ever done.

“I have no idea,” Thomas replied. “I think so. I don’t normally do any sort of– I don’t do much media-type things, so, but you’re you.”

The justice went on to note that he and Cruz have known each other for three decades and proceeded to thank the senator for defending him when Thomas came under scrutiny in 2023 after it was reported he had received luxury gifts, including private jet travel from a Republican megadonor. That report, by ProPublica, said billionaire Harlan Crow had been Thomas’s benefactor for years.

“For more than two decades, Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year from the Dallas businessman without disclosing them, documents and interviews show,” the report stated. “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.”

ProPublica added that the size and frequency of Crow’s gifts to Thomas “have no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”

In a subsequent financial disclosure, Thomas said that he had “inadvertently omitted” trips he went on courtesy of Crow, a real estate developer. At the time, Cruz, who had received campaign donations from Crow, defended Thomas.

“You’re one of the people who actually stands up, particularly at times when others seem to wither, and I appreciate it,” Thomas told Cruz on the podcast. “And more personally, when we, my wife and I were under attack for obvious reasons, you and Sen. Mike Lee and some of the other friends would stand up. Senator [John] Kennedy, etc. So I really appreciate that.”

Cruz responded that he appreciated the kind words.

“Justice, that is very kind of you, and especially for you to observe that I stand up in the face of criticism and attacks, that is, that is powerful coming from you because you’re someone who knows what that’s like and has done so in a way that has been world-changing,” the senator said.

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