Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is no stranger to questions about his ethical standards. The far-right jurist has, for example, faced awkward questions about incomplete financial disclosure forms. There have been related concerns about his appearances at wealthy conservatives’ political retreats, as well as his wife’s activism/lobbying on matters before the court.
But ProPublica today highlighted a qualitatively different kind of controversy for Thomas. The report is well worth your time, but the lede helped set the stage:
In late June 2019, right after the U.S. Supreme Court released its final opinion of the term, Justice Clarence Thomas boarded a large private jet headed to Indonesia. He and his wife were going on vacation: nine days of island-hopping in a volcanic archipelago on a superyacht staffed by a coterie of attendants and a private chef. If Thomas had chartered the plane and the 162-foot yacht himself, the total cost of the trip could have exceeded $500,000. Fortunately for him, that wasn’t necessary: He was on vacation with real estate magnate and Republican megadonor Harlan Crow, who owned the jet — and the yacht, too.
For Thomas and the GOP megadonor, this was not unusual. ProPublica’s research, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, found that Thomas has accepted luxury trips virtually every year for more than two decades, none of which has appeared on the conservative’s financial disclosure forms.
Experts in ethics law conceded that by failing to close the gifts, Thomas may have crossed legal lines.
Nancy Gertner, a retired federal judge, told ProPublica, “It’s incomprehensible to me that someone would do this.” Virginia Canter, a former government ethics lawyer who served in administrations of both parties, added, “[Thomas] seems to have completely disregarded his higher ethical obligations.”
If you have a good memory, these revelations might ring a bell. The New York Times reported 12 years ago on…
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