Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas‘ attorney is denying allegations that a six-figure loan that Thomas used to pay for a high-end motorcoach in 1999 was forgiven.
A new Senate committee report shows that a longtime friend of Thomas, Anthony Welters, forgave most of a $267,000 loan used to pay for the R.V. in 1999. Thomas was a justice on the federal bench then. He never reported this gift or the loan, even though the official code of conduct requires judicial officers to declare gifts of a non-business nature that exceed more than $415.
It isn’t a surprise that Thomas has friends in high places. And it’s no secret that those high-profile friends have gifted Thomas lavish trips, activities, and other endowments, some of which have gone undisclosed over the course of several years. And while this raised questions among members of the public, Congress has finally opened an ethics inquiry into one gift to Thomas from more than 20 years ago.
News of that gift first circulated earlier this year. Welters, a longtime friend of Thomas, did say that the loan was “satisfied” in 2008 after reporting that Thomas made interest-only payments.
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It wasn’t until recently that the Senate Finance Committee said it had seen documents indicating those statements might not be totally accurate.
Those records revealed a handwritten note by Thomas on his Supreme Court letterhead in which he agreed to definitive terms to repay the interest of the loan five years from the purchase date. However, Thomas only paid $20,042 to Welters in 2000, amounting to just one interest payment. When the rest of the money came due in 2004, Welters gave Thomas until 2014 to repay him in full. Yet, Thomas never paid more than that one payment in 2000, according to reports.
Nine years of interest-only payments would amount to roughly $180,000, according to The New York Times, which is much less than what Thomas paid and the loan…
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