Darren Lyn
07 April 2023•Update: 07 April 2023
HOUSTON, US
US Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted luxury trips from a Republican megadonor for decades, according to a bombshell report published Thursday by the nonprofit investigative journalism organization ProPublica.
The report revealed that Thomas and his wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, a conservative activist, had their luxury trips subsidized by conservative businessman Harlan Crow, including travel on Crow's mega yacht and stays at his lavish properties.
ProPublica said the hospitality subsidies were not disclosed on Thomas' public financial filings with the Supreme Court.
Congressional lawmakers are already scrutinizing the findings, with Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin saying in a statement that the ProPublica report was “a call to action” and that “the Senate Judiciary Committee will act.”
Records show that Thomas accepted luxurious trips overseas to New Zealand and Indonesia as well as cushy trips in the US states of Texas, California and Georgia.
ProPublica also found what appear to be several trips taken by Thomas on Crow's private jet that were not disclosed on his public ethics filings, with the exception of one flight that was disclosed in 1997.
Crow released a statement saying that he had been friends with the Thomases for more than 30 years and that the hospitality extended to them was “no different from the hospitality we have extended to our many other dear friends.”
“Justice Thomas and Ginni never asked for any of this hospitality,” said Crow. “(We) never asked about a pending or lower court case, and Justice Thomas has never discussed one.”
The report comes not long after the federal judiciary’s policy-making body adjusted its interpretation of what justices are required to disclose as part of their gifts and hospitality transparency obligations.
Durbin said that Thomas’ reported behavior was "simply inconsistent with the ethical standards the American people expect of any public servant, let alone a Justice on the Supreme Court" and added it was time "for an enforceable code of conduct for Justices."
Neither Thomas nor the Supreme Court has yet responded to the ProPublica findings.
Thomas was nominated by former President George H.W. Bush in 1991 and is the senior-most justice on the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority.
