Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has accepted luxury trips from a major Republican donor — and failed to disclose them — for over two decades, according to a bombshell ProPublica report that was published on Thursday.
Thomas’s lack of disclosure about these trips is a clear violation of government ethics law, legal experts told Vox. Federal judges, including Supreme Court justices, are required to disclose such gifts under the Ethics in Government Act, which establishes rules for federal officials regarding what’s acceptable. As detailed by the law, transportation gifts, like those that Thomas accepted, need to be divulged.
The ProPublica report puts Thomas’s commitment to ethical conduct under new scrutiny following his refusal to recuse himself from litigation related to the January 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, even as his wife, Ginni Thomas, played a direct role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results. More broadly, it serves as a reminder that Supreme Court justices face limited oversight or accountability — and have long refused to publicly engage with calls for stricter ethics rules.
In the past, lodging and food provided on someone’s property has been exempted from disclosure requirements, but transportation, which Thomas accepted, has not been. Per ProPublica, the “extent and frequency” of gifts that Thomas received from Republican megadonor Harlan Crow — which included flights on private jets and trips on luxury yachts — have “no known precedent in the modern history of the U.S. Supreme Court.”
As detailed in the story from Joshua Kaplan, Justin Elliott, and Alex Mierjeski, Thomas went on at least six trips that involved use of Crow’s private jet including to places like Indonesia, upstate New York and New Haven, Connecticut. Thomas also stayed at Crow’s private resort in the Adirondacks on an annual basis, and used his superyacht on luxury vacations. The degree to which Thomas utilized Crow’s gifts…
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